Misadventures in Parenting
by NijiBrush
Summary: This is a one shot collection set after my other story "Legacy." How would Skye and Jeffrey handle the adventure that is parenting? Read to find out. ;D (Skyffrey)
1. Comic-Con

**Disclaimer** **: I don't own The Penderwicks, or any other references mentioned.**

 **Author Note: Hey guys, long time no see! I'm still busy with other longer projects at the moment, but this one shot was kicking around in my head for a while so here it is! This is basically going to be a one shot collection that follows up after "Legacy." Can't say how often it'll be updated, but I plan to keep working on adding to this collection over time. Anyway hope you enjoy!**

Penderwicks - Misadventures in Parenting

Comic-Con - (Skye's POV)

"So let me get this straight, you're going outside wearing that?"

Since this was Jeffrey we were talking about I guess it was a pretty dumb question but leave it to me to ask anyway.

"Of course, that's the whole point!" He said twisting in a circle trying to reach the zipper on the back of his ridiculous costume jumpsuit. I just stared at him for a few seconds, he kinda looked like a dog chasing his own tail, and I figured this scene could have went on endlessly if I didn't step in.

I sighed before reaching to stop him and finish zipping up the rest myself. "Okay look, I know you've been looking forward to this Comic-Con thing for a while now, but why exactly does a glorified shopping trip mean going in public in the most ridiculous pajamas I've ever seen?"

Jeffrey shook his head at me as if I'd just told him 2x2 equaled twenty. "Skye the whole point of it isn't the shopping, it's about the experience! About showing your love for fandom, and well just having fun!"

I just started at him for a few seconds as if I were trying to translate that. But then crossing my arms and tilting my head I finally said something. "Okay, assuming I understand any of that, what are you supposed to be?"

He cleared his throat before stepping back to strike a pose, and that's when it all started to look familiar. "Wait a minute, are you like one of those superhero alien guys from the Japanese B movies you like?"

He frowned a little at me. "Well I'm going to ignore that last part, but yes, yes I am. I am none other than…" Then reaching to pull a mask over his messy hair he put his hands on his sides and puffed out his chest proudly. "I am Ultraman!"

I just stood there staring until the awkwardness was so thick it almost bothered me. Or at least it would have if I hadn't started laughing my head off right then.

"Laugh all you want, but I bet Timothy and Astra would appreciate seeing their father as an even bigger hero than I usually am!"

"Oh this I've got to see…" I mumbled with a smile as I trailed behind him into the hallway. Stepping into their bedroom doorway he struck another pose. "Hailing from the land of light, it is I, Father Ultra!"

As expected Timothy looked up from the blocks he was stacking and stared wide eyed before he wobbled over to cling to Jeffrey's leg and beam up at him in wonder. "Ultrawan!" He babbled out excitedly. Timothy was turning out to be a mini Jeffrey a little more each day it seemed. Poor kid… Jeffrey bent over to pick him up and ruffle his hair. "Yep Tims, your old man in a real guardian of the whole galaxy!"

Now Jeffrey turned to me and even through the mask I had a feeling his face was smug. But I just gestured toward Astra who was still sitting on the floor, before I pulled off his mask. "You're pretty much traumatizing our daughter." I said with an air of 'I told you so' before I walked past him and went to console the look of bewilderment on Astra's face.

"It's just dad, kiddo." I said pulling her a little closer. "Being…" I turned back to look at Jeffrey before I smirked. "Being the way he usually is." Astra was frowning at him with bunched eyebrows before she finally looked up at me as if demanding some explanation. I just smiled down at her with a shrug. "Sorry, what can I say? He's been like that for as long as I've known him too."

"Oh come on Buttons, I'm still your favorite, aren't I?" Jeffrey said with a pouting face as he took a few steps closer to us and reached to tickle her chin.

'Buttons' had ended up being the nickname Jeffrey had coined for her. The reason still gave me gray hair to be honest. It had a lot to do with him falling asleep once during his turn to watch them, and Astra crawling off to dig into the sewing kit Mrs. Tifton had given me. The motive, or message behind that gift is a whole other story. But as it was, Astra could have ended up gagging to death on sewing supplies, or at least that's how I saw it. Jeffrey on the other hand only thought to point out her apparent artistic talent, since she arranged the loose buttons into a shape that sort of resembled a flower. I can honestly say I'd never been so mad at him in my whole life but… Well with him being Jeffrey somehow he managed to weasel his way back into my good graces. Go figure.

Astra put up a tough face and seemed like she was struggling to fight laughing at his tickling. The truth was she was turning out more like me each and every day. And as such I knew how hard it was to understand and/or tolerate Jeffrey most days. But just like me she...well she had a soft spot for her dad that he'd learned to exploit. Finally cracking and giving in she laughed and smiled up at him.

"Now see, all is forgiven, my littlest lady." He said with typical dramatic flair before he leaned to kiss her cheek, and then leaning up he tried to steal a kiss from me too. But I intercepted him with a poke to the forehead. "Wait a second, Ultraman, if you're really so set on staying in character then I don't think I'm your love interest."

Jeffrey frowned playfully. "Well that depends on _which_ ultraman I am."

I shook my head. "Nope, I'm just your average civilian, and I'm pretty sure kissing me would ruin your public image."

He sighed before playfully poking Timothy's nose. "You see what a difficult woman your dear old mom can be?"

I smirked before walking past them. "I aim to please."

When it all turned out we spent at least an hour debating the issue of Jeffrey insisting that I go in character as someone too. Obviously it was all I could do just to be seen with Jeffrey dressed the way he was. But whether it was just his nagging persistent or that irritating soft spot, we finally ended up reaching a truce on me just wearing a lab coat over my normal clothes. I was supposed to be some crazy professor that created a monster from chemicals and lightning or something, but I just pretended I was a highly respected scientist. Which was mostly true anyway, right? Right. It was a stretch, but I could work with it. Timothy was more than happy to don the little monster costume Jeffrey had secretly bought for him, and Astra was smart enough to act like she was horrified of the one he'd gotten her. So in the end she was the only one who ended up looking normal.

But what could I say, she was turning out a little more stubborn each day…

Needless to say this day was going to turn out as anything but normal, which the car ride over basically proved...

" _Ultrawan! Ultrawan!"_ Timothy shouted excitedly from his car-seat.

Jeffrey whipped around in his seat and beamed a ridiculous grin at him. " _Here he comes from the sky!"_

Wait what…? Now he was singing…? And the theme no less...

I tightened my hands a little more on the steering wheel as I cringed with a frown. But Jeffrey nor his all too similar offspring seemed to mind my less than team spirit.

" _Ultrawan! Ultrawan!"_ Timothy chimed in preparing the next chorus.

" _Watch our hero fly!"_ Now it was Jeffrey again, hitting a high note his voice wasn't even remotely equipped to reach. " _In a super jet he comes from a billion miles away! From a distant planet land, comes our hero Ultraman!"_

Granted I'd never paid that much attention the few times Jeffrey made me sit through the show, but I thought that was at least the end of the theme music.

" _Ultrawan!"_ Timothy shouted again as he clapped his hands together sending his messy blonde hair bouncing around his face. I used to wonder sometimes what it would have been like to know Jeffrey as a little kid, but I didn't anymore. Nope, I think I'd figured it out.

Sighing I glanced over at Jeffrey before focusing on the road again. "You do realize you're corrupting our son, right?"

He smirked back at me. "Oh and I suppose that ' _my first abacus'_ box I found in the closet just magically appeared there?"

I frowned and shifted a little in my seat. I was kinda hoping he wouldn't find that… "Are you saying you're not interested in our children's education?"

He smirked again. "Of course I am, that's why, my dearest Skye, I'm introducing them both to the arts of another land."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm not really sure Ultraman counts at the highest arts of the Japanese culture…"

Jeffrey just waved his hand at me as if dismissing my entire argument. "Besides I wouldn't worry," He turned to look back at Astra. "We have a mini Skye in our midst after all."

I smiled a little. He was kinda right about that I knew. Astra was turning out more and more like me. Or at least it seemed like it. Sometimes I got the feeling she was forming questions in her head when she stared out the window like she was doing now. She was at least quieter than her brother anyway. And that sorta reminded me of how different I was from my sisters. But I wasn't smug enough to not see Jeffrey in her too. And I didn't just mean her green eyes. She loved music. Well, art is general I guess. From that weird incident with the buttons to how she could draw just a little better than the typical scribbles babies her age should have been confined to. But I guess the part about her that reminded me the most of Jeffrey, was the way her eyes looked when she heard him play or she was trying to draw something.

Jane said it was natural to expect her to have artistic skill considering the family she came from. I wasn't so sure one way or the other, but something about that look seemed sorta like...well like passion I guess. Or as much artistic passion as a sixteen month old could manage anyway. And it definitely wasn't a subject I could wrap my head around, but if I related it to stars or math than I kinda got it.

Timothy wasn't 100% Jeffrey either though. As ironic as it seemed, he was my most faithful partner when it came to watching the stars. He was loud, loved to be the goofy center of attention and knew how to act cute to try and get his way. Not so unlike Jeffrey… But most of the one on one time we'd spent together was with my telescope. I had to admit I still had a lot of doubts about how great a mom I was turning out to be. But the feeling I got on those nights where I'd point out stars and distinct galactic bands until he fell asleep in my lap… Well it was turning me soft in ways I didn't really like to admit, at least not out loud anyway. And when it was all said and done, the ironic truth was, my own family was as strange and filled with differences as the one I'd grown up in. Though I can't say I really would have had it any other way.

When we finally got there, I was a little surprised to see just how big a venue this comic-con thing was. Well that and the fact that Jeffrey was one of the least ridiculous looking costumes there.

And that...was really saying something….

Jeffrey's inner child, which I always struggled to keep in check, was now completely running wild. I was holding Astra and lagging back cautiously, while Jeffrey and Timothy darted from one booth to another. For someone who loved the thought of possible space exploration, I couldn't help but feel like I'd already landed on another planet…

"Pika." I heard Astra suddenly say as she pointed toward something in one of the boothes.

"You wanna see this over here?" I asked as I hesitantly stepped closer.

"Want pika." She said again as she stretched and pointed toward a plush toy.

I raised an eyebrow before shrugging and turning toward the guy keeping the booth. "Uh, how much for the...um yellow mouse thing?"

The guy smirked at me, and it kinda seemed like he wanted to laugh. "The pikachu?"

I glanced back at the toy before nodding. "Uh yeah I guess so…"

"Pika!" Astra said a little louder now.

The guy smiled at her. "Looks like your little girl knows, don't you sweetheart?"

Astra wasn't usually that great with strangers but she smiled at the guy and I almost thought she was even getting into the spirit of the event that Jeffrey had been rambling on about. I wasn't really sure what a "pikachu" was or how on earth Astra had known what it was when I hadn't, but after docking a twenty Astra was happily clutching a plush toy almost as big as she was.

By now I'd pretty much lost Jeffrey in the crowd but I did manage to find another familiar face.

"Jane…?" I mumbled in shock as I saw her behind a both and busy signing book covers. She was dressed in a get up I didn't even recognize, but that wasn't really a surprise honestly. Poor David was behind her struggling to lift more book up on the counter. He also was dressed as something completely unrecognizable…

When the line broke she looked up at me and grinned. "Skye!" Standing she leaned to kiss Astra's forehead. "And my little adorable niece! I didn't expect to see you here." She took a step back and looked me over. "And in cosplay too, I'm impressed! Though I'm not really sure who you're supposed to be."

I frowned feeling a little embarrassed even though I was just wearing a lab coat. "Dr. Beta...I think Jeffrey said…"

She nodded. "Sounds interesting. Well I bet you can't guess who I am?!"

She was right about that at least. And my silence tipped her off to that fact.

"Sabrina Star of course!" She leaned in to whisper. "This is from one of my old classics: "Sabrina Star rescues the Prince of Atlantis."

I just stared at her for a second or two before I glanced over at David who was rubbing the back of his neck and grinning awkwardly. "So…" I said pointing at him. "I take it you're that prince?"

"Yes, that's right..." He mumbled back with a blush.

I sighed. I knew they said love was all you needed, and that it could bring world peace and everything, but any force that could make a man wear that in public had to be at least a little dangerous.

Jane looped her arm in his and pulled him a little closer. "Isn't he the handsomest? I'm just glad he's _my_ prince."

Just like old times it hadn't been five whole minutes and Jane had already said something that made me cringe. Figures.

"So where is your prince, Skye?" She asked with a wink.

I coughed into my hand. "I think I came with the savoir of the galaxy or something actually…"

She clasped her hands together. "Oh I can't wait to see Jeffrey's costume, where is he?"

I shrugged. "No idea, I was hoping you'd seen him. Not that you'd recognize him in what he's wearing…"

Right on cue, and before Jane could say anything back an announcement said that the cosplay contest was about to begin, and that anybody that wanted to see it should get to their seats. I wasn't really interested in seeing what other strange get ups might be paraded on stage, but I liked the idea of sitting down and laying low until I could spot Jeffrey. So telling Jane bye I slipped back into the crowd and found a seat in the back row. What came next was a fashion show of oddness like I'd never seen before. Part of me was laughing my head off inside at least. The woman next to me must have been a super fan of everything ever made, because each time a new costume paraded on stage she'd lean over to me and comment on how lifelike or either shoddy it was.

Mostly I didn't know one way or the other so I just nodded and hoped she start talking to the person on the other side of her. Needless to say after twenty minutes of this routine I was considering taking my chances finding Jeffrey by wandering around through the crowd. But I never got the chance because the next person to take the stage was none other than Ultraman. For a split second I hoped it was just another Ultraman, any one but _mine_. But the truth was, even with a mask Jeffrey's lanky frame was easy to identify, and the toddler accompanying him as a mini monster didn't hurt either.

"Oh how cute!" The woman said digging an elbow into my side. "He must be a daddy! Look how adorable that baby Red King is!"

Everything the lady was saying would have sounded like gibberish to me anyway, but now it was doubly so. I was too busy sinking as low as possible in my seat. And when Jeffrey cued the music and the theme started to play, I knew it was only going to get a lot worse from here…

" _Ultrawan! Ultrawan!"_ Timothy chimed in at the top of his lungs.

Jeffrey struck a pose and followed up with his less than stellar singing voice. " _Here he comes from the sky!"_

I was cringing through the whole thing, with the only consolation being that no one beside Jane and David knew we were related. Or at least that was until Astra looked up at me from between the ears of her pikachu plush thing. "That daddy…?" She asked seeming confused.

I wanted to shake my head and lie to the poor kid about the truth of it all, but I couldn't so I just froze up. Meanwhile the woman next to us must have been listening in because she turned to me with happy shock on her face. "Oh is that your husband!?"

At that question my whole life basically flashed before my eyes. I think I saw the eleven year old me shaking her head. No doubt about it, love was the most dangerous thing on earth…

But what could I say…? Nodding slowly I started toward the floor. "Uh yeah…"

She put a hand over her mouth. "Then you must be Dr. Beta!"

I nodded hesitantly again. The truth was if I could have disappeared I would have. Right. There. Right. Then. But all I could do was it there and half heartedly clap as the rest of the audience broke out into applause. When all was said and done, the father/son alien/monster duo took first prize and won about a certificate for about a hundred bucks worth of free stuff. Which meant I'd have to hang around for his shopping spree. But was was worst was his sudden fame. It seemed like all eyes were on Ultraman now…

So when he came bounding up to me and pulled off his mask intent on a celebratory kiss, I knew I basically had two options. Pepper spray my own husband in hopes most people would just think he was an overly forward nut, or let him, and risk public humiliation. Well beside the effect it would have on our relationship I couldn't exactly mace their father right in front of the kids. Well that and the small detail that I didn't actually carry pepper spray or mace, as I preferred to just deck someone if it ever came to that. So needless to say as Jeffrey pulled back and reached to hug me and Astra afterward, I just went for all that great humiliation.

"We won! How amazing is that!" Jeffrey said with about as much excitement as his toddler son was exuding. I forced the most convincing smile on my face I could. "You sure did…"

He smirked at me and poked my nose playfully. "And here you thought I was just going to embarrass you."

I sighed before pulling my red face into a playful grin. "No more than usual I guess. But hey Ultraman," I said pulling back so I could jab him in the shoulder. "You really owe me big time now."

He gave an overly dramatic bow. "And I shall repay you, my lady, with a million more years full of days just as amazing as this one."

I sighed before smiling at him and then Timothy and Astra. "That...is exactly what I'm afraid of..."

 **This was partly inspired by the over the top Japanese TV show my older brother is a crazy fan of, and often tries to get me into. Along with my own recent trip to Comic-Con. I'm more of the super nerd fan type like Jeffrey or Jane so it was funny seeing how the other side (Skye) views the crazy goings on. ;D Anyway do feel free to leave me a review, and follow if you'd like, because like I said I will be adding to this over time. You know me, I just couldn't stay away from these awesome people for long!**


	2. Secrets

Secrets (Skye's POV)

I'd heard Iantha say that once you became a parent you never really slept as soundly ever again. At the time I thought seemed kind of hard to believe, not that I'd ever been anything but an average sleeper anyway. But experiencing it myself had taught me a few things. First off, it didn't apply to Jeffrey, and so that meant it had to apply at least doubly to me. It did.

Cracking open one eye I scanned the darkness of our bedroom before I slowly sat up. The clock in the corner was reminding me that at three am no one in their right mind should have been awake. Glancing over at Jeffrey I almost wanted to check his pulse, or at least try and shake him out of the apparent coma he was in. But I knew all too well how _normal_ that was. Not that normal wasn't a relative term in this family.

But there it was again. A shuffle just loud enough to hear. To hear if you were fulfilling every light sleeping parent prophecy anyway. I was. Pulling back the covers I quietly lowed my feet to the floor and stood. I was almost shocked when Jeffrey stirred just enough to mumble something about "green turkeys." Smirking I rolled my eyes before creeping out into the hall. I squinted in the darkness but still didn't see anything. In fact I was about ready to think it was all just in my head when I heard the shuffling again. It sounded too light to be some creep in a ski mask, or at least I was hoping so. Because honestly, if I had to be the one to beat up a bugler and rescue us I'd make sure Jeffrey never heard the end of it.

But I wasn't really expecting to meet some guy with a crowbar around the next corner. Nope, I had a pretty good idea already who this was. Taking one look around the door to the twins room I found out I was right. Astra was still sleeping soundly, but Timothy's bed was just an empty mess of tossed animal plushies and mangled covers.

It had been a few weeks down since they turned two year old, and as such had graduated out of their cribs. I knew it was the natural development of things, but I still wasn't too happy with the thought of them being able to freely wander around at night. Now I was being to see why. Frowning a little I crept back down the hall and stepped into the living room. There on the sofa Timothy was sitting bunched up next to a sleeping Treble, and staring up through a crack in the curtin. I wanted to me at least a little mad at him, but the longer I stood there without letting him know I was watching, the more I realized he'd pulled back the curtain to look at the stars.

Being a parent must have meant that you were at least a little bit a sucker too, because suddenly all the justifiable anger melted away and I felt kind of proud that he'd managed to make it in here by himself. Sitting there with his messy blonde hair and completely captivated stare, it almost took my breath away just how much he looked like the both of us…

Sighing a little I knelt down next to the sofa and stared at him. "What are you doing up, Tims?"

He turned to face me and almost seemed a little started, but I was expecting that shocked look to change to his typical cute grin. The one he used every time he was in trouble and knew it. But instead he just frown even wider and started to suck his thumb. It was a habit he'd given up recently, so I knew it was strange that he'd start going back to it. Not after he'd went out of his way to tell everyone he met that he was "too big for the thumb."

I felt my face soften as I reached to gently ruffle his hair. "What's up, buddy? Are you feeling okay?"

He nodded without taking his thumb out of his mouth. It wasn't like him not to be chattering away by now. Even when he was upset he'd always talk your ear off about it. In the last six months or so he'd went from one or two word sentences to doing his best to hold entire conversations with anyone who'd listen. The doctors said that he was very articulate for a kid his age, Jane just knew it had something to do with being the next Penderwick writing prodigy. All I knew is it was beyond weird to see him quiet. But I waited, thinking he might need a little time to open up for some reason.

"I'm okay…" He finally said after momentarily pulling his thumb out of his mouth.

"Really?" I said not sounding too convinced.

I watched as his little eyebrows bunched suddenly and he snapped his head around to look at me. He was staring up at me with a look that seemed like a mixture of accusation and sadness. I was so shocked I didn't even know what to say, he'd been so serious. But then like it was a flood gate he couldn't keep bottled up any more, he popped his thumb out of his mouth and stared up at me.

"Why no love daddy? Mommy, why!?"

I just blinked at him as I watched his angry little face whell up with tears that he fought to sniff back.

"W-What…?" Was all I could think to mumble out. He'd asked why the sky was blue, what you called the kangaroos he'd seen on TV, and even something akin to wanting an explanation for gravity. But this was one question I wasn't sure why he was asking. So like I was two years old and confused too, I ended up parroting back what he'd asked.

"Why…?" I whispered quietly.

He nodded while rubbing his eyes. "Why, mommy?"

I swallowed hard before letting my shoulders slump a little. "Why are you asking something like that?" I said meeting his question with a question.

He clutched Treble's neck a little tighter and looked away from me. Then in an unusually low voice he mumbled back: "Kiss…"

For a second I felt even more confused than I was before, but then like a ton of bricks it hit me and I frowned. Last night Jeffrey's never ending rehearsal of his latest original piece left him in his typical annoyingly good mood. I was in the middle of grading exam papers and had already endured two hours of his Brahms inspired medley, so when he tried to waltz me across the living room and steal a kiss as usual, I'd mostly ignored him. Of course Jeffrey had milked the moment with pretend sorrowful rejection that would have made Jane proud. But I was guessing that to a two year it looked a little too real. It was just a dumb misunderstanding, but I couldn't help but feel bad about it. Had he been up all night wondering if his parents suddenly hated each other…?

Sighing I slid in next to Treble and Tim before turning to look at him. "Hey…" I said quietly. "Can I tell you a secret?"

He looked up at me, his eyes looking a little brighter at hearing his favorite word. He'd learned it early and to be honest was a nosy enough little kid to jump at the chance of hearing any secret at all. He just nodded as he let go of Treble and crawled a little closer to me.

Looking down at him I got a serious look on my face, the same kind I'd gotten when I tried to explain gravity as simply as possible. "Remember where feelings come from?" I asked.

He thought for a second before he quickly moved his hands over the middle of his chest. I smiled a little. "Right, you remember."

"Heart." He said with a nod that meant he wanted to go the extra mile to impress me that he remembered completely.

"Does love come from there?" I asked simply without taking my eyes off of him.

He hesitated for a second before nodding again. "Love's a feeling."

"Right, it is." Then reaching to lift his chin to look up at me, I met his green eyes with my blue ones. "So about the secret…"

"Yes, secret?' He asked eagerly as he leaned closer.

I cupped my hand beside my mouth as if just to build suspense. Then finally I whispered: "Feelings are hard."

"Hard…?" He mumbled suddenly looking confused.

I just nodded somberly. "Like keeping colors in between the lines."

He seemed to be considering this for a second before he nodded in agreement. "Coloring lines is hard."

I smiled a little. "Yeah, but guess what?" I reached to lift him into my lap before I looked down at him. "You have to do hard stuff too. The hard stuff is really important. Really special."

Timothy looked up at me as if he were trying to connect what I'd meant, but finally he spoke up. "Love daddy is hard…?"

I sighed. Was I somehow making this worse…?

Shaking my head I looked him in the eyes again. "No. But talking about it is."

"Why?" He shot back quickly. And to be honest I thought it was a fair question. But it also was one that I didn't know how to answer. I never had, it just seemed like a part of me, like the hair or eye color I was just born with. But if I ever needed to get over it, now was definitely the time.

"Do you hear that?" I asked slowly as pulled him a little closer to me. With his ear to my chest he was quiet for a few seconds before he looked up at me. "Heart?"

"Yeah, my heart." Then I swallowed hard again and gathered up my nerve. For a second all I could imagine was that picture of mom holding Rosy. I didn't think she'd ever have had trouble answering this question. Not that she'd have been asked it in the first place. But if she had maybe she'd have just out and out confessed proudly yet gently, how much our dad meant to her. In fact, I still remembered the look on her face when she'd stretch on her tiptoes and steal a kiss from his cheek. I remember the flustered shock on his face as his glasses slipped down his nose. And the way she laughed and would say: "I love you, Martin."

I remembered it all… And maybe more than ever wished I could have been just like her. If just for Timothy and Astra, if just for Jeffrey… But I could only be me. I...I had to try and do things the best way I could.

So wrapping my arms around my son I took a deep breath before pushing on. "Do you hear your daddy in there?"

For a good thirty seconds he just listened. Listened to my heart beating away in my chest. Then looking up finally he smiled. "Yes."

I felt my shoulder slump with relief before I nodded. "Good. Then that clears that up, okay?"

He frowned a little confused. "Clwears?"

I grinned a little. I'd forgot he wasn't really familiar with that phrase just yet.

"What I mean is…" I closed my eyes before opening them and looking down at him. "Daddy is special to me. Special like love."

"Like love?" He asked seeming excited to hear that his parents were in fact, in love after all.

I nodded as I ruffled his hair again. "Yeah, so don't worry, okay?"

He grin in that normal lopsided way that made the freckles on his nose crinkle into Jeffrey's mirror image. Biting my lip a little I pulled him closer and leaned my chin on his head.

"I love you special, mommy." He said in a little voice that seemed completely sure. I squinted, but it didn't do a good enough job to keep the tears from silently rolling down my face.

"Yeah, y-you too, buddy…" I said even though my voice was wobbling."

Then pulling away suddenly, he lowered himself from my lap and raced down the hall with noisy stomps that didn't at all care about what time it was. I followed behind him, but by the time I caught up he was already on top of Jeffrey and pulling at his shirt. I admit I was almost surprised when he woke up even under those circumstances. When Jeffrey finally crept open his eyes and registered what was happening he sat up slightly.

"Little Maestro…?" He mumbled still sounding half asleep.

Timothy just beamed at him before shouting at the top of his lungs. "Mommy loves you, it's a secret!"

I mainly wanted to disappear into thin air. After about three years of being married to Jeffrey I thought I was almost over being embarrassed about it, but as weird as it was I felt my face getting a little warm. Jeffrey turned to give me a smug look that I was honestly already expecting.

But then he looked back at Timothy. "Is that so? Well what happy news!"

Timothy nodded. "Yeah!"

Jeffrey smiled and ran a hand through his messy hair, then with a mischievous smirk he turned back to me. "Is that true, my lady?" He asked knowing exactly what he was doing, but enjoying every second of it anyway.

I frowned as Jeffrey wiggled his eyebrows at me. If it had just been the two of us I would have probably said something like: "Yes, and I'm still trying to figure out why." But as it was Timothy looked over at me expectantly, and I felt my heart cringe at the thought of his impressible little mind.

So instead I let go of a deep breath and took a few steps into the room. "Oh so you want to know if I love you, huh?" I asked trying to sound like it was no big deal.

"Indeed." Jeffrey chimed back with the same smugness. I smirked before eyeing Timothy. He was looking like someone did when the plot twist was about to be revealed, and they knew it already. It was a happily eager little look. It was a look that meant, just like he probably already knew, I was putty in his tiny hands.

Smiling a little softer I nodded. "Yeah, you bet I do."

I guess it was something in the seriousness of my tone, or at least the way he knew I wasn't kidding at all. But whatever it was, I saw Jeffrey's face drop its smugness and instead look suddenly touched.

"But," I added in quickly as I climbed back into my side of the bed and collapsed on the pillow.

"It's really late…"

As if to agree Timothy rolled off of Jeffrey and sandwiched himself in between the two of us. He was sound asleep before I could even start to argue that he needed to get back in his own bed. I sighed, letting it go just this once. But over the next few silent minutes I just laid there awake and thinking. Without even glancing over to check I knew Jeffrey was too.

"So…" He whispered suddenly into the darkness. "What was that about?"

I sighed again as I tried to figure out how to explain it. Finally I just decided I was too tired to even bother. "I'm tell you tomorrow. Go to sleep."

But instead of listening he just sat up slowly and looked over at me. I leaned up a little too and frowned at him. "What?" I asked since he was staring at me.

He smiled in that typical dorky way he always did. "Oh nothing, I was just thinking how amazing you are is all."

I huffed before smirking at him one last time before turning to face the wall. "Yeah, no kidding."

I heard him slide back down on his pillow and after a few minutes I could hear them both slowly breathing in sync. Even though I was exhausted I still couldn't help laying awake for a little while. Just so I could listen to them both for a while. It was almost like I wanted to remember this night for the rest of my life. Then just as I was almost asleep again I felt a tiny figure creep over me and curl in next to Timothy. I sat up and turned to see what was happening now, but I wasn't really shocked when I saw Astra wordlessly look up at me before closing her eyes and drifting off.

I smiled a little before giving in to a sigh. It was just an average day. Or um night. And I knew that when the sun rose it would just lead to another typical day filled with craziness. I wasn't wrong because sometime just before dawn I heard the sound of lanky fingers on piano keys, and the smell of mostly burnt pancakes. Down the hall I heard the sound of Timothy's little feet racing at full speed, and Astra's calmer pace following him. Treble was meowing in time with the music and for a second I just wondered what on earth was going on. But then I remembered…

All the way from my vacation to Arundel, to this morning, I retraced it all in one instance, and suddenly it all made perfect sense.

I should have moaned in annoyance, but even to my surprise…

Well...I just smiled instead...

 **Thank you all for the kind words as always, I missed writing with these two crazy awesome people, and it's good to be back! Stick around, I'm hoping to aim for at least two updates a month or so.**


	3. The Artist

The Artist (Skye's POV)

You know, that old saying about time flying? I'm pretty sure scientifically speaking, the amount of fun you are or aren't having doesn't really do much to change time. Not that anyone really even gets what time is scientifically in the first place. I used to be in that camp where I kind of thought it all might just be all in your head, but now I was thinking there might just be more to it than that. But...either way that wasn't really helping me right now.

"Hold still, Mommy." Astra said flatly as she looked up from the picture she was drawing. The picture she was drawing of _me_.

"Oh sorry." I said as I tried to stop fidgeting in my chair. I was pretty sure I'd been sitting here for half an hour already, but...

Astra looked up at me and bunched up her eyebrows seriously before staring back down at her paper. I knew that a two and a half year old probably couldn't really catch my likeness in the first place, but I was still kinda nervous about how it was going to turn out. And when she reached for a green crayon suddenly, I got the feeling she might be planning on taking some "artistic liberties," as Jane put it.

She looked up again and bit her lip before forcefully scribbling another few strokes. "How's it coming?" I asked a little hesitantly.

She didn't answer she just kept drawing at top speed. I sighed a little. According to Jane silence was part of the artistic process too, but I kept reminding Jane that she was a writer, and couldn't draw her way out of a paper bag in the first place. Yeah I knew Jane was just trying to help, but honestly sometimes I worried about how quiet Astra was. Almost like she was in her own little world away from everybody else.

Of course Jeffrey thought it was hilarious that I was worried about her being antisocial. That just lead to him saying she was my daughter after all. Which just led to me trying to explain that I _wasn't_ antisocial in the first place. Okay, so I admit I liked my alone time too but… But I was still worried about her, it was just a parent thing, I'd almost accepted that by now. Almost.

I guess I just wanted her to...to feel like she could talk to me. I sighed again. Jeffrey had got a kick out of that too. And admittedly it did seem a little ridiculous to worry about that now. I guess he was right about me not being able to survive when she becoming a teenager. But ridiculous or not, I understood what it was like to see things a little differently from everybody else. With Timothy always taking center stage in every room he walks into, I well… I wanted her to know that I noticed her too. That I got how it was. Or at least I thought I did, most of it anyway. But truthfully I was thinking more and more that Jane's suspicions were right.

Astra was...probably going to end up an artist of some kind. I sighed again as I felt my shoulders slump. Between Jeffrey and Jane, she didn't even have a chance at being normal.

"Mommy, straight." She said pointing a crayon at me.

"Sorry." I mumbled again as I tried not to slump again.

One thing was for sure, she took her drawings more serious than most toddlers. Sometimes I'd even see her drawing while Jeffrey was pounding away at the piano. I wasn't too sure, but he swore that she was coloring her interpretation of the music. I thought that was crazy at first, but now I guess I was thinking it was at least possible.

"Finished!" She suddenly shouted.

"Oh really?" I mumbled snapping back awake. It was rare to hear so excited about anything, I guess this was an exception. She was holding the paper with both hands and practically staring holes in it. Standing up I walked over slowly and sat on the floor next to her. "So...can I see it?" I asked gently. I'd made the mistake of trying to steal a peek before she was ready before. After two hours of her crying and me apologizing I'd learned the hard way. One thing was for sure, I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

For a second she didn't say anything, but finally she nodded. But she hesitated in handing the paper to me. I was just about slowly reach for it when she pulled it back against her chest. "It's not good!" She shouted before storming down the hallway and disappearing into her and Timothy's room.

I just stared after her before I stood and carefully followed her. Timothy was out with Jeffrey, he needed to buy a new reed or something for his clarinet and Tim never turned down the chance to go anywhere with his dad. Ever since that incident at Comic-Con I was thinking he thought Jeffrey was a real superhero. But right now I was kind of glad, right about now would be when Timothy would just complicate the situation.

When I stepped in the room, she was sitting in the corner and facing the wall. Putting my hands in my pockets I slowly paced over to her before plopping down on the floor next to her. The two of us just sat there without saying anything at first, but I knew all too well that these things just needed time.

"So...it's no good huh?" I asked without looking at her directly.

"No…" She finally mumbled back. I wasn't sure if she'd say anything else without me prying further but thankfully she did. "It's not pretty…" She added and almost sounded like she was close to tears.

I cringed a little. No exactly how I wanted my self portrait to be described but… But before I think about it I felt her tiny back lean into mine. "Not like you…"

At first I didn't know what to say, then I sighed a little. "Me, huh…?"

"Yeah…" She whimpered.

"Are you sure…?" I asked simply.

"Yes…" She mumbled back.

I thought for a second before I made a suggestion. "We could ask daddy or Tim, they might like it?"

"No!" She shouted and from the sound of crumpling paper it seemed like she was destroying the evidence before anyone could see it. Now she really did remind me of Jane… I figured it was useless to ask if _I_ could see it, something told me I was the last person she wanted to look at it. Almost like she had disappointed me. I thought it was a dangerous combination...Jeffrey and me. And now I knew why, someone who had my um...stubbornness, plus was as emotionally unstable as an artist. Astra was living proof, and sometimes a live example of the worst of both of us it seemed.

I sighed and slumped my shoulders, then I leaned over until I was laying completely on the floor. I stared up at Astra who was now hovering over me. I wasn't going to claim being an artist _any_ time soon, but I liked to think all of those times I'd been subject to Jane's antics might have some use.

I put on my best frown before sighing loudly. "And I really wanted to see it…"

I saw her face flinch, and I thought maybe I wasn't as bad at acting as Jane always accused me. Or was convincing a toddler nothing to be excited about? "You wanna see it…?" She finally mumbled.

I nodded and did my best to look as depressed as possible.

"Really…? She pressed.

I just sighed again.

Looking down with a frown she slumped her shoulders before slowly laying the mostly crumpled wad of paper on my stomach. I was careful not to reach for it too fast, instead I slowly sat up and gently crinkled the page. At first her face was the picture of eager, but right before I had it completely unfolded she turned toward the wall.

The picture wasn't my mirror image, but for toddler it was actually pretty good. I mean probably better than a little kid her age should be able to draw. Just like it always was. And if nothing else could be distinguished my blue eyes were emphasized. I knew there was just one thing to do. Reaching to pick her up, I carried her mostly limb little stubborn body to the kitchen. Then standing in front of the refrigerator, I gave her picture center stage right next to Jeffrey's list of favorite take out numbers. It took four magnets, one on each corner to hold the wrinkled piece of paper in place, but I managed to put all of Jeffrey's tacky souvenirs to good use, at least.

"There we go." I said as I gently shifted her weight until she was leaning into my shoulder. Hesitantly she peeked out at the now hanging portrait. She bit her lip and I could see she was blinking back tears and pretending I wasn't noticing. That trait I actually couldn't blame Jane or Jeffrey for passing on…

"You like it…?" She asked with a small shaky voice.

I nodded seriously. "You know what I like the most?" She just stared up at me with wrapped attention. I pointed to a point on the picture. "You got my eyes perfect."

At first she didn't say or do anything, she just seemed almost too shocked to move at all. But then little by little it was almost like her face started to glow.

I pulled her a little closer until I felt her hair brushing up against my chin. "They're perfect, just like you, Astra."

She leaned back against my chest as a tiny little smile unfolded across her face. She didn't say anything, and I guess if it would have been Timothy he would have said something like "I love you," and I would have been the one adding the "yeah me too." But I got how it was to find that a little hard to say first. Because she was just like me. So I decided to help her out a little.

"I love you." I said in a calm voice as we both stared at the picture hanging on the fridge door. She didn't answer back at first, she just shifted her weight again until she was looking over my shoulder and hugging my neck. I closed my eyes and smiled a little bit.

Just wait for it.

"Love you, Mommy…"

Later when Jeffrey and Tim got back, the quiet Astra and I had been enjoying was mostly shattered into a million pieces. But like we always did, we took it in stride. Timothy was chasing Treble around the living room while Jeffrey swayed back and forth in front of his piano like he was possessed by something overly emotional. And...he probably was. Or at least I knew it for sure when he jumped up from the bench and tried to waltz me around the living room.

"May I have this dance, m'lady?" He asked in a terrible accent as per usual.

I was trying to decide between going along with it or punching him in the shoulder, when something surprising happened.

"Daddy, me!" Astra said as she reached up toward him.

He stopped and smiled down at her without dropping the accent. "What is this, more beautiful women falling at my feet?"

I rolled my eyes. Obviously.

Astra laughed as Jeffrey scooped her up and started to twirl around the room. Then he smirked at me as smug as ever. "Don't be jealous m'lady, there is enough of my awesomeness for all of you!"

I crossed my arms and sighed. But all at the same time I couldn't keep the smile off of my face.

Astra was different. She was a lot like Jeffrey, and some like Jane. And like it or not, she might end up being an artist someday. I could only imagine how much fun she'd be once all the teen angst finally kicks in, but…

But I figured all that was okay. More than okay, it was pretty great actually. Because more than anybody else…

Well, she was just like me...

 **Well that took longer than I'd planned... Anyway sorry for the lack of updates, life kicked me in the butt last month and it has taken until now to remove the foot print. lol But, I'm back and dare I say things are actually looking up from here. So please stick around for more timely updates here on out!**


	4. Karaoke

Karaoke (Skye's POV)

I won't lie about it, just being related to somebody doesn't actually mean you're anything like them. In fact, in my experience it pretty much guaranteed you wouldn't be _anything_ like them. Or at least in most cases. Sure there were always exceptions. And the thing about having kids meant you got to see a lot of yourself in them, so that didn't really prove my point. But… But I was thinking it was completely true when it came to siblings. Case in point: Jane.

Anybody that spent more than two minutes around her knew she was _unique._ And anybody that spent less than two minutes would at least have a funny feeling something was different about her. But she's family, right? So of course you love them anyway. And really I was okay with her being so different from me. I'd even almost got used to hearing her writer rants. Almost. But what wasn't okay was when she drug me into one of them in front of everyone. That happened the one time I was dumb enough to offer her help at a book signing. I figured I was just there for grunt work, like lifting the cases of books, and/or beating up any overly pushy male fans, but it turned into a lot more than just that…

Someone had made the mistake of asking her about what scene she'd loved writing the most. And you can only imagine how things went from there… Before I could even blink twice she was striking a dramatic pose and tossing lines of poetic dialogue. What I realized too late was I was supposed to be playing the role of the female lead and answering back in turn. But all that did was turn my stomach… But just like a school play or some other public speaking horror, you can either sink or swim. My first reaction was just to blink at her without saying anything. But of course she escalated from there and before long we had a crowd standing around waiting for me to join in the epic dialogue.

Needless to say, I had decided I wasn't ever speaking to her again once that performance was over. But then that family thing comes in and you realize you love them in spite of it all. For some reason… Honestly it was an annoying fact sometimes. And today _wasn't_ going to be an exception...

"Do, re, mi, fa, so, la-"

"Seriously Jeffrey…?" I grumbled as I shot him a glare from the corner of my eye. We were in the car on the way to our doom and Jeffrey was calmly practicing his scales? Why was I even surprised. The thing was Jane and David were having a big party this afternoon, which would have been fine. Normally I loved hitting up David's personal arcade, and the pool and food weren't bad either, but today was different. Today Jane had went out of her way to tell us to bring our "singing voice."

In Jeffrey's case it was impossible to bring something you'd never owned in the first place. And as far as I was concerned I didn't want to find out if I could sing or not. Nope, not if it meant public humiliation at the hands of Jane's new karaoke hobby.

"I'm just trying to keep my voice sharp, my love." Jeffrey grinned back at me.

I cringed. I didn't want to be harsh, but with a voice like Jeffrey's it would be a service to humanity if it stayed dull.

"You should be practicing too!" He chinmed in again, excitedly. "That way we could do a duet, you know something slow and ultra romantic. We could look into each other's eyes and even tear up or something, we'd steal the show for sure!"

I just stared at him without saying anything at first then I repeat myself. "Once again I say: seriously Jeffrey?"

He sighed before trying to act hurt. "Well excuse me for trying to make cherished memories. One day when we're old and wrinkled we could have looked back fondly on this day, but I guess not…"

I sighed and clutched my head. "If Jane tries to make me sing I won't even live to be old and wrinkled…"

"Here he comes from the sky! Ultraman!" We both heard suddenly resound from the backseat. I wasn't surprised to see Tim clapping his hands together and preparing for his stage debut.

"Now that's the spirit Tims!" Jeffrey grinned from ear to ear. "Of course we can do one together too Little Maestro."

I just sunk deeper into my seat. My only consolation was that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Astra would have no part of this. At least I was like one of my relatives… In fact, I think we both understood just how alone we were in this sea of oddly forward people, because when we made it to Jane's, Astra stuck to me even more than usual. As expected Tommy was manning the grill, if not just for the "free samples," and Rosalind was watching Tommy Jr. in the pool while he splashed around in water-wings. But she looked up to smile at us.

"Skye, Jeffrey, hey how are you doing?"

Before I could answer Tim darted forward and lunged into her with a hug. "Auntie Rosy!'

She chuckled to herself. "And hello to you too! You're getting big, aren't you, Timothy?"

"I'm three!" He shouted proudly as he held up _two_ fingers.

"Wow you are so big now!" Rosy cooed with her usual maternal charm. Was I the only one worried about his math comprehension?

After that he made a beeline for the food and Jeffrey knew better than to let him go by himself. We had an unspoken understanding that neither us really trusted what he might do unsupervised if he got the chance. So I just shuffled over to the chair next to Rosy, plopped down, and then motioned for Astra to crawl onto my lap.

"And how are you Astra?" Rosy finally asked her with a grin. Somehow I got the feeling she knew better than to ask me that again. I think the dread was written pretty plainly on my face…

Astra hesitated before nodding. "I'm good…" She mumbled timidly.

Rosy's smile got a little bigger before she reached to playfully tap Astra's nose, which made her grin a little. "You look just like your mommy, did you know that?"

Astra thought about it for a second, before looking up at me and then back at Rosy.

"Really…?"

Rosy nodded. "You're so beautiful!"

Astra brightened before looking longingly toward the kiddie pool Tommy Jr was splashing in. Then she turned to me with pleading eyes. I smiled a little, nodding.

"Here, I'll get you all ready to swim with little Tommy." Rosy offered as she took her hand and lead her away to change into a swimsuit. I just sighed and did my best not plot out the exits. If I wasn't supposed to be watching Tommy Jr, I might have just made a break for it. Honestly it felt pretty justified considering.

When Rosy came back with Astra, we both just stared at the two little kids thrashing around in the micro sized pool. I knew it was a count down until Rosy called me out for being what Jeffrey called a "glum bum."

"Are you feeling alright, Skye?" And there it was.

I frowned and sunk a little farther into my lawn chair. "I would be but…"

"But what?" Rosy asked looking concerned.

I covered my eyes with my arm for a second before I remembered I was supposed to be a vigilant parent. So opening my eyes and leaning into my hand I mumbled the one word that said it all and then some. "Karaoke."

For a second Rosy looked like she didn't even get what I was talking about, then she just smiled. It was that same smile I'd seen as a kid when I'd just bared my soul, and she was about to reassure me it was no big deal. Except this time it really was.

"Oh Skye, is that all?" She laughed. "I'm actually looking forward to it, I don't think I've ever really heard you sing."

"There's a reason for that." I shot back stubbornly.

"You're just nervous and overthinking it." She said with a calm nod, as if that settled it. "Besides I think it would be good for Astra to see you doing something so forward. It might help her come out of her shell, she really looks up to you, I can tell."

I frowned as I felt something twist in my stomach. Why did Rosy always excel at giving me the parenting guilt trip? I knew she wasn't really trying to but…

"We're both just not into that kind of thing." I countered, hoping I could convince myself not to buy into her logic.

Rosy nodded. "Yes I know, but sometimes it's fun just to try something new and exciting."

"But I can't sing." I shot back staring to feel slightly cornered.

She laughed. "None of us can sing, Skye, but it's still a lot of fun!"

I bit my lip as memories of all those singing talent shows drifted into my mind. It wasn't fun when they told all those horrible singers that their hopes and dreams were going down the drain, mostly because they sounded like frogs.. Though admittedly it had been fun to watch, which now was making me feel more than a little guilty. I guess because I could suddenly relate to the thought of public humiliation.

"And if you don't want to sing than you could always dance." She added in casually.

My heart lurched into my throat. The conceivable thing worse than singing had to be dancing. Sure I'd danced with Jeffrey when I had to at our wedding, but that was different from the goofy jumping around that Rosy and Jane had in mind.

"No that's alright, I'll sing!" I said before I could even think through what I was committing to.

Rosy smiled. "Well that's great then. I'll be looking forward to it."

Needless to say for the rest of the afternoon I was in a daze like state of unmoving panic. Dad, Iantha, Batty and Ben showed up a little later, but it was all I could do not to choke on my attempts at small talk. David was trying to be a good host and ask us if we needed a refill every three seconds or so, and Jane was...well she was being Jane.

"So then I told them," she balled her fist and went on with the dramatic story she was holding the whole floor's attention with. "Touch that manuscript and I'll break that pen in half! The nerve! I mean but that's just how some editors are, you really have to get in there and remind them who's boss."

I wasn't even sure what she was going about anymore, I just nodded through it while Timothy sat on my lap munching cake. Which was probably another oversight due to my dazed condition. He'd be bouncing off the walls later, and I'd blame Jane and Jeffrey in that order, for it.

"But anyway," Jane said clapping to signal a change in subject. "Now that we've all ate and got caught up, why don't we get this party really started!"

I jerked up a little straighter, and so did Tim, just for completely opposite reasons...

"Can we sing now Auntie Jane!?" He asked waved his arm in the air.

She smiled down at him. "You betcha Tims! Let's get the artful expression going!"

I just glared across the table at Jeffrey, silently blaming him for spreading his forward goofy genes to _my_ offspring. He almost choked on his piece of cake before regaining his composure and shrugging with a weak smile. I thought he got the message.

But it wasn't really a time machine that I wanted right then, no instead I knew a teleporter was what I really needed to get me out of here. But the thought of breaking down your body into his most basic parts and reassembling them seemed ridiculous. The science would never work for a live subject, but I thought there must be another way to do it. The thing was I was hopelessly out of my field thinking about it, and worse yet I seriously doubted I could figure it out in the next ten minutes or so regardless…

Because ten minutes was about all I had… The length of a few songs. The first of which, was Jane's rendition of a pop song I'd heard her _trying_ to sing since we were in middle school. But to be fair I hated the real version so… But what she lacked in actual vocal talent she more than made up for in sheer enthusiasm. Leave it to Jane to have such a stage presence…

Believe it or not it actually got worse from there. Mostly because Tim and Jeffrey jumped at the next chance to own the spotlight. While I was expecting more renditions of the classic Ultraman theme song, what I _wasn't_ expecting was for them to sing it in _japanese._

" _Sekai o terase hikari hono, yami o kirisake."_ Jeffrey swooned.

" _Towai chukai mune ni yadoru."_ Timothy sung back not missing a beat with his embarrassing father.

I just blinked while everyone else's mouths hung open. I admit it was news to me that a three year old that was yet to fully master english could sing in another language entirely. But then I thought this spoke to just how much TV he was watching with Jeffrey... Though 90% of me was ready to disappear at my connection to the duo, at least the other 10% was impressed by Tim's articulation. But when I thought about it I could help but roll my eyes at myself. Was I this far gone as a parental sap? Yeah probably, but I could still be 100% embarrassed by Jeffrey at least.

Because it wasn't his cracking voice that sounded almost like Treble when his tail got stepped on, that was getting to me. Nope it had to be the dance moves. Then Jeffrey looked my way and threw me a wink. Yeah I just slid about as far down in my folding chair as I could. In fact, a little lower and I wouldn't even need a teleporter to disappear. So at least _some_ good could possibly come from it all.

"They're great!" Jane whispered as she elbowed me in the side. I could barely muster a weak smile to answer back to that. But if I thought nothing could be worse than hearing them sing, I learned hearing the applause afterward was way worse. Mostly because it meant _I_ was next...

"Oh Jeffrey, Tim, that was amazing!" Jane thrilled as she took the stage again to act like some kind talent show host. Well we were putting on a show alright, we all just missed the talent mark by about a lightyear. "I think that just proves that little Timothy as nature talent with language!"

I tried to ignore what she was obviously implying. Both my kids ending up artists might have just been too much to take. It would mean all the scientist would be fully weeded out of our bloodline in another generation or two. We all become known for our emotional outbursts and uh what, prose maybe? Which was a word invented just to try and trick people into thinking poetry could resemble normal speech.

"So with so much talent on the Tifton side of things, let's remind everybody what we Penderwicks can do! How about it, sis!?" Jane said gesturing me up. "Let's hear you work those vocal cords!"

To say I cringed just wouldn't have done it justice. Instead I suddenly knew what it must have been to face the end. It would have been better if my feet would have just refused to move, but instead with all the eyes on me the pressure must have pushed me to actually get on the stage. But it was hard to tell honestly, I mean with all the blood rushing in my ears and the hot lights bearing down on me. Everything looked more or less blurry and I felt equally dizzy. My body felt tense and I was fighting the reflex to just lock up and stand there doing and saying nothing. But there in the audience was Astra, staring up at me like I was about to pave the way for all socially awkward people everywhere.

Which meant it probably would have been confidence breaking for her if her role model just passed out. But to be honest a full black out seemed like a not too unwelcomed way to get out of this. And I might have just went with it, if there hadn't been some small overwhelming maternal part of me somewhere anyway. Some part of me that didn't want to let her down. So instead I put on a brave face and stared down the lyric monitor waiting bolding for what doom was soon to come. This was it, but at least I could face it with dignity. Or so I thought before Jeffrey bounded onto the stage next to me and winked Jane a music cue.

Grabbing another microphone he looked over at me and smiled that wide goofy grin of his. When the music started I knew why. This had been our wedding song, and it was just as slow, sentimental, and ultra romantic as Jeffrey had said he wanted our duet to be.

When I heard the collective "aww" quietly travel through the crowd I knew this was so much worse than I could have ever imagined…

And then he started to sing, yep with that less than stellar, more like horrible voice of his. It was off key, tone deaf, and made it hard to imagine he sounded like an angel on a piano. But that's why the sudden butterflies in my stomach made even less sense. It'd been about five years since we danced to this, and in that time it was hard to imagine how far we'd come. I only wished I'd kept a running total on how many times I'd punched him in the arm. Or how many days I wanted to cut the strings on his piano just to get a little peace and quiet. But instead it all just sort of blended into one big blur of our life. From the good, the bad, and all the messy in between.

Which...still is no excuse for me starting to pick up the words by the first chorus line. Yeah I definitely _wasn't_ actually touched or anything. Just saying. And blinking back tears would have been _completely_ out of the question by the time it was over. Of course.

Which is why it made that twisting feeling in my stomach all the more incomprehensible. So when all was said and done and the music faded out he reached to hug me from the side and I just stared, red faced, out at all my relatives.

"Hold on let me get this!" Jane said as she started to scribble something on a napkin.

Jeffrey just laughed a little before he grinned at me softly. "I love you, m'lady."

I tried to smile back at him, but considering I was currently on public display I decided to just slide off the stage and instead. The only thing that almost made losing all my dignity worth it was seeing the look on Tim and Astra's faces. Grinning back at them weakly I ruffled their hair before sinking about ten feet into my chair. The good news besides that was our dj, Jane, was much too overcome by emotion and inspiration to torture anyone else in the sameway.

So as the party winded down, and she disappeared inside with little more than a wave I just smiled.

"Um sorry about that she-" David stuttered trying to apologize for her. But I just smiled at him. "Going to up all night finishing a chapter? Yeah I know." I knew before he ever did in fact.

He smiled. "Yeah, sometimes even later…"

I stuck my hands in my pockets and looked up toward her bedroom window where, if I closed my eyes I could almost imagine the sound of her keys clicking wildly. The thing about family is...well one way or the other, no matter how different you are, you find ways to put up with… Or maybe inspire is a better word, each other.

I knew Jane would never change, and I wouldn't much either, but I guess that was okay after all… That's what I was thinking a lot on our way back home. Glancing in the rearview mirror Jeffrey noticed that both Astra and Timothy were finally asleep in the backseat.

"So…" He said again trying to fake being upset. "You never told me if you love me too back there... Remember, after our song?"

I nodded calmly. "Yeah." Was all I said.

He raised an eyebrow and glanced at me before looking back at the road. "And?" He pressed.

"And I'm still trying to make up my mind." I said with a smirk.

"Seriously, after that heartfelt serenade?!" He asked in a flustered whisper.

I shrugged before I leaned over to kiss his cheek. Then I grinned at him. "I don't know, you do realize how off key you were, right?"

He reached to touch the side of his face for a second, as if it had been a first date instead of five years or marriage. Then he smiled widely over at me. "I'll just take that as a resounding yes."

"Sure, fair enough." I mumbled as I leaned into my hand and started out the window. Five years was such a long time… So long it made me wonder just what madness the next five had in store. I figured it would be a mixed bag of annoying, great and crazy, just like usual. But the only thing was…

The thing that made me know I really was too far gone, too far gone to ever regain the good sense I had before he crashed into me in that hedge. Was well...I guess it was the fact that I wouldn't have missed it for anything…

 **Funny part is this chapter was inspired by a family party I went to about a week ago. I have a brother who is my** **complete** **opposite, sort of like Jane in being so forward, and he's a karaoke buff. I on the other hand, have never sung in front of someone like that in my life. I'm horrified just by the thought! Long story short, I got put in the same spot as Skye, but I ended up flipping my "Jane switch" and turning the song into an over the top emotional performance. Since it was a song I liked to listen to when I write, it was sentimental to me, so I think I sort of got carried away when the pressure hit. Oh boy the crazy life of us writer types... lol**


	5. Treble Maker

(Treble Maker)

In the three years that Astra and Tim had been in our lives, I'd spent a lot of time trying to figure out who was the most like who. And though it seemed a little biased, I'd pretty much settled on Astra being the most like me and vise versa. But it wasn't like it was exactly that simple, not with her artsy tangents and Tim's love of watching stars with me.

But there were times when comparing them to mini versions of ourselves did seem pretty spot on. Now was one of those times…

I was knee deep in grading essays when I noticed the top of a tiny blonde head poking up from beside my desk. It take much to know who it was. Timothy's hair was wavy and unruly while Astra's was almost as straight as mine. But that wasn't why I thought they fit as mini versions of me and Jeffrey today. Nope, but the next three seconds would clear that up too.

"Mommy...I did a bad thing…" His guilty little voice said suddenly.

I slowly rolled my chair over until I could see him standing beside the desk with the same forlorn frown Jeffrey had that time he came home with a motorcycle. Only his words were more like: "I know you'll want to kill me three seconds but…"

He was right.

"A bad thing huh?" I asked calmly as I looked down at him.

"Yes…" he confirmed sumberly.

"What kind of bad thing…?" I asked carefully, even years of Jeffrey told me I'd be better off not knowing.

"A jelly thing…" He mumbled as he bent down and poked at the green stripes on his sock.

"Jelly…?" I blinked in confusion as I slipped out of the chair and knelt down in front of him. "What kind of jelly thing?" I asked a little more firmly, so he'd pay attention.

"Grape…" He whispered back as if it answered everything.

I sighed. "I mean what did you do with the grape jelly?"

It seemed a little odd, because in most embarrassing childhood stories I'd heard, he'd have been covered head to toe in said jelly and that would have been the end of it. But he was eerily clean, which called to mind the very scary question of how creative he'd been? And I knew from all too much experience that if I asked that same thing about Jeffrey, than I had every reason to to worried.

"Wanna see…?" he asked still not looking up at me.

I sighed again. "Yes…"

But right on cue I heard a scream from the living room that made me figure it was all about to come together. If it had been Astra I would have been worried, but since it was Jeffrey's characteristic sherik it was almost expected.

So picking up Tim I carried his mostly limp with guilt body, toward his clearly emotionally disturbed father. I wasn't really sure what I was expecting. I knew something was a mess, but I guess I just looking for what I saw. But hunched over his baby grand was none other than Jeffrey. He was doing his best to cradle the whole thing in his arms, even though that wasn't even remotely possible. So he settled for gently caressing it like a friend on their deathbed.

Which probably meant it would have been insensitive of me to laugh. Yeah and that would probably give Tim the idea that what he did was okay and all that parental stuff… But if I could have just been that twelve year old me again I would have just laughed until my eyes watered and my sides hurt. Because just seeing a piano covered in grape jelly would have been random, but seeing Jeffrey's piano covered in grape jelly… Well, that was hilarious.

"Who could have done this…?" Jeffrey whimpered weakly as he turned to me.

Swallowing the last of any laughter I was holding in, just looked down at Timothy in my arms. "Do you think you know?"

He dangled his arms down lifelessly as he moaned out an affirmatory. "Yes…"

Kneeling down I put him on the floor where he laid flat out and took in slow guilty breaths.

"Did you do it?" I asked simply.

"Yes…" he mumbled back, and it took me stepping on Jeffrey's foot to stop him from snapping right then and there. So closing his mouth Jeffrey turned toward the wall and tried to compose himself while I handled this.

"You said it was a bad thing earlier, so you know what you did was wrong, right?" I asked sensibly.

"Yes…" he mumbled again.

"So...why did you do it?" I asked simply in a calm voice. Which granted was a lot easier for me, seeing as I wasn't nearly as emotionally invested as the currently hyperventilating pianist in the corner.

Timothy hesitated at first before he rolled over on his stomach so he was face down and not looking at either of us. "Cus...I'm a bad person…"

I let out a slow sigh as a frown came to my face. This was funny right up until that point. So scooping him up off the floor I sat on my lap when I sunk into the sofa. Making him look at me I frowned and let him know I was a little angry.

"You're mad at me!" He shouted, almost seeming relieved somehow.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah, but not about the jelly, about what you just said."

"That I'm a bad person…?"

"Yeah, don't say that, because it's not true. And what is a lie?"

"Bad…" he mumbled. "Bad like grape jelly…?"

I sighed. "Bad like putting it on daddy's piano. So, come on Tims, why'd you do it?"

He hesitated as if he was mulling over if a full confession would be in his best interest. I wanted to tell him that if he didn't, getting a full on attorney would probably be a good idea, considering how upset Jeffrey looked.

"Timothy." I said in my best, 'that wasn't an option' voice.

"It's noisy…" he finally said, and it was all I could do not to crack a smile.

Looking over at Jeffrey, all the color had drained from his face as he leaned against the wall, almost like he'd been shot with a tranquilizer dart.

"Y-You don't like daddy's music?" I asked even though my voice was almost shaking with laughter.

"I like it sometimes. But other times…" he frowned wider as a resentful look crinkled his little childish face. "But other times I like to play without it…"

"How do you mean without it?" I asked, still not completely getting his motivation.

"When I like to play Ultraman with daddy, not piano…"

Jeffrey's face qiuvered. "Torn between my two great loves…" he moaned almost silently.

"So," I tried to clarify. "You don't like it when daddy plays the piano instead of Ultraman with you?"

Timothy nodded slowly, and I just sighed. Sitting him on the floor I ruffled his hair. "We'll talk about this more after I talk to daddy, okay? So go back to your room for now."

He nodded and started to walk away, but then he turned back to face us with all the dramatic flair of his crazed aunt. "I deserve to be punished." he said matter of factly, before exiting stage right.

Part of me wasn't even surprised his vocabulary was that big already. Turning toward Jeffrey I just crossed my arms. "He's your son."

He sat up and wiggled his eyebrows at me. "My son?!" He shout whispered so Tim wouldn't hear us.

I grinned. "Yep."

Treble crawled over onto my lap and I started to scratch him under the chin.

"How are you so calm?" Jeffrey asked with no little amount of salt in his voice.

"Because it wasn't my telescope." I answered honestly.

Jeffrey sighed as he plopped down on the sofa, appearing to be a broken soul. He leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling.

"Our son has acted out on his first jealous rage. Next it'll be slashing the tires of his crush's boyfriend's car. Then he'll end up in the slammer for personal assault!"

"Maybe." I said with a casual shrug. "Or," I added in before he could spiral anymore. "He could just want attention. Even if it meant getting you mad at him. You heard him, I think he wants us to punish him so he'll be noticed or something."

Jeffrey frowned. "Great, now we sound like the negligent parents that he'll blame his life of crime on, thirty years from now…"

"We have been pretty busy lately, right?" I asked thinking about the last two weeks. I'd been up to my neck in papers to grade, and Jeffrey was working on a new composition for a concert coming up.

"And now we should feel guilty?" Jeffrey frowned.

I rolled my eyes playfully. "Quit playing bad cop, he's just a little kid." then I elbowed him in the side. "And he just wanted to be your ultra sidekick or whatever."

Jeffrey let out a long sigh that took most of his anger with it. "And now I have guilt. _He_ covers my piano in blueberry jelly and I have guilt?"

"Grape." I corrected softly.

Jeffrey pretended to be upset as he reached to poke the side of my face repeatedly with both fingers. "Why oh why did I fall in love with you, just to produce such troublesome offspring?"

"The way I see it," I said turning to him with a deadpan look. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

He just stared at me, still clearly annoyed, before I smiled a little more seriously at him. "Sorry Jeffrey, I know you're upset about this."

He deflated again. "I'm fine, I know he's just a little kid… But what are we supposed to do, I mean is it his fault or ours?"

I thought about it for a second before I thought I had it mostly figured out. "It still wasn't right of him to do, but I kinda get why. So I think we should show him his actions have consequences, but still address the fact that we haven't been giving him much attention lately."

"Oh really?" Jeffrey asked raising his eyebrows like he was impressed. Then he grinned smugly. "And just when did you become such a parental expert and I missed it?"

I smirked. "One of us had to figure it out."

He grinned at me before bowing in an exaggerated fashion. "Well, I would say I agree with your deductions my fair queen."

I was about to call Tim back when his little head poked around the doorframe leading into the living room. I guessed eavesdropping was another thing that technically wasn't the greatest habit either, but one thing at a time.

"Are you gonna punish me with forty lashes…?" He mumbled meekly.

I looked over at Jeffrey and raised an eyebrow. All I wanted to ask was where he was getting these phrases from, but then it came to me. Jane had been babysitting every friday night for three years. That explained a lot of things actually…

Jeffrey walked over and lifted Timothy up and gave him a playful hug. "Fifty lashes! And then a big helping of green beans!"

Tim cringed more at the last than the first, but then I guessed he knew a lot more about vegetables than lashes.

Sitting him on his lap Jeffrey ruffled his hair before getting a little more serious look. "You can't go around putting jelly on other people's things just because you're upset about something, okay? Even if it was daddy's fault for not paying enough attention to you. So because of that we _both_ get punished."

"Both…?" he mumbled not understanding.

"Yep," Jeffrey nodded. "Three days with no TV for you, and three days with no piano for me."

I thought it was a pretty reasonable arrangement, and I was a little proud of Jeffrey. But then of course it would probably take at least three days just to clean the jelly off the piano anyway…

"Or grading papers." I said joining in the punishment pact. Though secretly that was more of a vacation for me... But that's just between us, okay?

As it turned out, I ended up with two ultra nerds hopping around and firing pretend beams at even more pretend monsters. There was no piano, but right about then I was thinking that maybe a little music would have been better than the sounds Jeffrey imagined alien beams of light made.

At one point, Astra walked into my study and stared up at me with sincerely curious eyes.

"Why is daddy and Tim strange…?"

I smiled down at her softly, before lifting her into my lap and leaning my chin against the top of her head.

"I don't know, sweetheart…" I grinned as a million old memories of Jeffrey came rushing into my head.

"We may never know…"

And that much I felt pretty certain of.

 **Sorry for the lateness of this update, but you still have to put up with me! lol ;P Anyway I saw a bumper sticker that said "Treble Maker" and I KNEW I had to put it to some Jeffrey related use. Thus this awesome prompt was born!**


	6. Gingerbread Monsters

(Gingerbread Monsters)

I obviously didn't know much about it personally, but from watching Jane I'd pretty much figured out that being a drama queen had to be exhausting. Both for her majesty and the poor subjects. But if I had any doubt, life with Jeffrey confirmed it…

And when it came to high drama, the subjects were almost endless. A new piano composition, a missed note, a spider on the bathroom wall, the public broadcast documentary that called classical music a dying art in a new generation, and on, and on...

But nothing seemed to bring out the inner royalty in Jeffrey like the first mention of visiting his mother. Sure, I got why, but it's just, I never in a million years would have thought _I'd_ be the one to handle Mrs. Tifton with more finesse. But nowadays I was always the one to play referee and hold things together.

Hunched over the guest piano in Arundel's cottage, the drama queen in question was currently pounding out a dirge that threatened to wilt the vase of flowers balanced on the instrument. I sighed as I finally looked up from the article I'd been dumb enough to try and read while he was playing.

"So," I mumbled out matter of factly. "I take it you're upset about something?"

As expected that was the only little nudge he'd need to let loose the tangent he'd been stewing on for the last two hours. And as much as I'd hate to open up pandora's box of Jeffrey, I knew he'd never get over it if I didn't.

The music came to an abrupt halt as he spun around on the bench and glared at me as if that was the understatement of the year. Which, to him I guess it was.

"Oh no, why would I be upset!?" He said with his eyes almost bugging out in that funny way that meant I'd have to try hard not to laugh.

"Good question." Was all I answered back calmly. Which meant he was now going to tell me _exactly_ why he was upset. So getting up he started to pace around in a way that would have left trenches in the floor if kept up long enough.

"I mean, I'm willing to let go of the past, sure, I'm a reasonable guy! But!" At that he held his index finger up like this was the point of the century. "But when mother has the nerve to try and push those same _ways_ on my son, then that's just _so_ different!"

"So," I said playing dumb. "This is about what happened at lunch, right?"

He almost looked like he was going to blow a fuse, so I got up and walked over to him. Putting a hand on each of his shoulders I gently pushed him back down on the piano bench. "Look Jeffrey, I know what she said, but having a heart attack over it isn't going to do much to prove her wrong."

His face twisted in two different directions at once before he finally deflated with a sigh. "Yeah I know, but…" he balled his fists against his knees. "Tim is perfect just the way he is, and if she can't see that then...then well it's just her loss!"

I sighed. Because it didn't take much to know he was really talking more about himself that Timothy. "Yeah, that's true." I said softly, which made him nod wildly in agreement. "But," and as soon as I said that his head snapped up to look at me like I'd betrayed him with a three letter word.

"But," I emphasized again. "I don't really think she was trying to say Tim wasn't good enough or anything. He was just acting kind of crazy, you know how he can get when he's excited."

"Even so!" He shot back, before he started to fume to himself. "She comes to me with that disapproving look! 'Mind your son, Jeffrey.' Oh I have a _mind_ to run for the hills, that's what I have a mind to do!" He tugged on his messy hair as he frowned so hard I just hoped it wouldn't stick. Because if I was stuck seeing that for the rest of my life...yeah I might just run for the hills too.

"Our family is perfect, Skye, and you know it!"

I sighed again as I sat down next to him. "Nope," I said slowly.

"What!" He asked sounding frantic as he turned to look at me.

I grinned a little bit. "Nobody's perfect Jeffrey, and Tim trying to climb up a bookshelf isn't exactly perfect either."

"But…" he mumbled back weakly.

"No buts, he was acting crazy, and we needed to tell him to stop, and that's pretty much it."

"What if he's scarred for life because of this!?" He shot back.

I raised an eyebrow at him, knowing he was the only one who seemed scared for life. "Uh he didn't really seem scarred to me, besides I was the one who pulled him off the shelf, it wasn't like your mom really had anything to do with it."

"Yes but, what if he can just feel her judgment without her even saying a word!?"

I sighed for what felt like the hundredth time. "At three I hardly think he's perceptible enough to 'feel her judgment' and I really don't think she's judging him anyway. If anything your mom spoils them both way too much, that's why he was in that sugar rush to begin with."

Jeffrey frowned and seemed to be thinking hard for some way to counter my point. And he even opened his mouth to say something, but I just shook my head at him and he closed it again.

He sighed and slumped back against the piano. "Okay, so...you _might_ have a small point there…"

"Might?" I asked raising another eyebrow at him.

He shrugged. "I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt. And you know why?"

"Why, Jeffrey?" I asked playing along.

"Because I love you for who you are, and not just what I wanted you to be! What I expected you to be!"

I sighed, here we go again.

"Look," I said slowly. "I'm not exactly Jane when it comes to reading people and all that jazz, but um...are we really talking about Tim, or are we talking about you?"

He frowned. "There _may_ be similarities."

"Yeah, and I'm thinking this whole thing sorta hit a nerve, right?"

He hesitated before giving in and nodding. "Okay fine, so I still have deep seeded issues…"

I grinned a little as I leaned into his shoulder playfully. "That's not exactly news to me, Jeffrey."

He smirked. "Very funny, m'lady…"

Then I crossed my arms. "So, hang ups aside, do you at least get what I'm trying to say?"

He turned around on the bench and poked at a random piano key. "Maybe… But I still don't like it…" His face went a little serious suddenly. "It just reminds me way too much of certain _things_."

"Such as?" I asked trying to pull it out of him. Not that I thought he really needed to say it.

"Such as being a major disappointment, and rebel wild child to her, for starters."

I turned around on the bench so we were facing the same way. "You a rebel? I'm not sure I can really see that…?" I mumbled as I pressed down a random few keys too.

He turned to face me with a little smirk. "Well I married you, didn't I?"

I grinned back. "Yeah, and just think, now _I'm_ her favorite."

He rolled his eyes playfully. "It is ironic, isn't it?"

I shook my head slowly. "No, I think it just goes to show that anything can happen. You know, no matter how impossible it might seem."

"Well, I already know that…" he mumbled under his breath before he slipped off the bench and walked over to the kitchen. "Remember when I finally had my stand off with mother right here of all places?"

"Naturally," I said with a nod.

"And, what about all the times I launched arrows at your bedroom window?"

I grinned. "Yeah, I guess Tim gets his bad behavior from you, right?"

Jeffrey smiled, and it almost looked like he was his old self again. And when he dropped to one knee I knew he was definitely back to normal, which of course was _relative._

"You can call it bad behavior, but I prefer to think of it as following in the long line of desperately lovestruck men that preceded me. _Oh wherefore art thou, Skye?_ "

I rolled my eyes. "I don't really think Romeo was a skinny eleven year old with a bow and arrow."

He stood back up and walked over to me, looking down into my eyes. "Maybe, but I don't think Juliet had anything on you..."

I smirked. "I'm gonna assume that's a compliment. But honestly with Shakespeare, it was kinda hard to tell a love scene from the battle sequences." I shrugged. "I mean especially considering everybody dies in both."

He slid in next to me before sighing. "Oh Skye, I was going for a moment there…"

I blinked a little confused, before I shrugged again. "Oh really? Sorry about that…"

He turned back toward the piano and started to play a few slow sentimental cords. "Now let me see if I can re-establish the mood…"

I laughed to myself. "If you have to try then…"

But he ignored me and just kept playing as soft and slowly as he could. So like so many times before, I just decided to listen. Of course I'd never let him know that I actually found his music romantic sometimes. _Sometimes._

Though today I couldn't really shake the grin off my face. Maybe it was because he was suddenly trying so hard to be smooth, when if anything Arundel made me think of him as that lanky little kid more than ever.

So when he faded out the music and turned to me, I had to hold back a laugh. "So," he started to say with a smug look on his face. "You probably feel like kissing me by now, am I right?"

I just looked at him for a second or two before I cracked a grin. "Uh no, not exactly, sorry."

He deflated with a sigh. "See what I mean, all the female figures in my life are judgemental…"

"Nope, not really, but you should have known better than to think shakespeare was on my wavelength. Now, Jane maybe, but…"

He sighed loudly again, before he looked at me with a playfully threatening look. "Could it be I married the wrong sister, after all this time?"

I just leaned into my hand and stared at him. "Sorry, I tried to tell you that from the beginning, but you were the one insisting. So now I guess you just have to live with it, huh?"

" _Oh well…"_ he mumbled playfully, as he crossed his arms and shrugged.

I just rolled my eyes before we both looked toward the sound of the front door opening. Like a bolt of lightning Tim dashed inside followed by Astra at a more reasonable pace. Churchie was following, trying to catch her breath.

"I hope they weren't too much trouble?" I said as Astra reached for me to pick her up.

She smiled at the two of us. "No, my mother always used to say that children will keep your spirit young. And seeing little Timothy surely reminds me so much of Jeffrey from all those many years ago."

I glanced over at him, and thought about how that was true in more ways than one. "Okay so," I said softly as I looked between Timothy and Astra. "What do you say?"

"Thank you, Chuchie!" They both chimed in, with Tim more or less leading the charge, as usual.

Taking a few more steps inside she placed a hand on top both their heads before she smiled down at them. "You're very welcome, little ones, and I quite enjoyed playing with you both too."

After a little small talk, Churchie excused herself, but just before she did she left a little covered plate that Jeffrey and I both could identify easily. He glanced between me and the plate, before he hopped off the bench and scooped Tim up in his arms. "Who's ready for a snack!?"

"What kind of snack, Daddy…?" Astra asked sounding skeptical, which I thought was always a good policy when it came to Jeffrey's ideas.

"Why just the most special and secret of all snacks!"

"I wanna see!" Timothy shouted as he pulled away from Jeffrey's hug and reached toward the covered plate.

Not surprisingly Tim was the one to pull the cover off the plate and reach to grab a piece of gingerbread in both hands. I ruffled his hair before looking down at him with a curious face.

"Don't you think one would be enough to start with, buddy?"

He looked up at me before smiling a little bashfully, and sitting one of the pieces back on the plate. Without missing a beat though, he took a big bite and we both watched as his little green eyes lit up.

"It's so good!"

Astra's forehead bunched with a frown as she wriggled out of my arms and reached for a piece of her own. Naturally not the piece her brother had already touch though, naturally. Just as expected, Astra's skeptical frown melted as soon as she'd tasted it, and now her eyes were closed like she was some connoisseur savoring a vintage wine.

Jeffrey's smile stretched from ear to ear as he looked at me. For a second I thought it almost seemed like he was going to start tearing up of all things. But it wasn't like I couldn't understand why he might have… Not that _I_ was going to, but…

But I got why. They say the brain works by association, and so it would have been impossible to taste Churchie's gingerbread and not think back to that first summer. Sure, we'd had our share of drama then too. And I knew I'd probably never forget that time I'd pretty much told his mother off in her own home. Or how Jeffrey and me had basically started off as enemies who were politely trying to put up with each other. But for all the things that had gone wrong during that summer, I knew what went right was of course much more important.

But the past has a way of popping up in your head even when you don't want it to. And bad memories could even threaten to crowd out the good ones sometimes. I knew that's why Jeffrey wasn't too crazy about coming back to Arundel. But maybe those sad associations could be changed? Yeah, one piece of gingerbread at a time…

So standing up I walked over to him and leaned in until our lips met, and he was completely taken by surprise. When I pulled back he just blinked at me.

But I grinned, yeah before I punched him in the shoulder.

And I guess I would have just kept standing there looking at the confused look on his face, but we both heard two little voices laughing at us. So turning we saw Tim and Astra snickering in between bites.

"Hey," I mumbled with a smirk. "It's not nice to laugh at people…" But that just made them laugh even louder. And I couldn't help but think, this was the first time our kids had ever laughed at us, if that wasn't a sign they were growing up then… I sighed as I reached to grab a piece of gingerbread off the plate.

"Fine, laugh…"

And I was about to take a bite when Jeffrey lunged forward and pulled the four of us into a group hug. He didn't even say anything, but then I didn't guess he really needed to. So I just let myself relax into his arms as I stared over his shoulder. Timothy and Astra were still snickering a little and overall just enjoying the attention. And I knew they didn't have any idea just how special this moment really was. But I was glad that from now on this would be what they thought of when they smelled gingerbread.

But you know, I could feel the little tremble in Jeffrey's chest, and I figured he really was crying now. But not in a way to make a show, no, instead I knew I was the only one to even realize it.

I smiled softly as I held on to him a little tighter, and I felt his messy brown hair brush against the side of my face. For the goofball that I knew he really was at heart, sometimes I figured he was just trying to deal with things too. And I understood that, because in our own ways we all had chairs propped against our closets, didn't we? Just so we would keep the monsters safely inside.

But the thing about monsters… Not even the worst of them could resist the taste of Churchie's gingerbread. So when he finally pulled back a little, I handed him the piece I was still holding.

Sniffing back tears he took a big bite, chewing and silently crying all at the same time. "Is it good, Daddy!?" Tim asked excitedly once Jeffrey sat him back down.

"T-The best, Little Maestro!" He answered back with a smile on his face, yeah even though I heard his voice tremble.

I smiled over at him. "Like father, like son, huh?"

Jeffrey just looked at me, before he smiled slowly, and I knew it meant a lot. Because he must have been thinking of that little boy he used to be… The one with the messy brown hair and wide green eyes. The little boy that didn't have the luxury of the parents we were fighting hard to be.

But you know...that was okay, because in spite of it all, I thought Jeffrey had turned out pretty great.

Yeah, just the way he was…

But don't tell him I said that.

 **You know, I kinda want some gingerbread now... lol**


	7. Lord of the Skies

(Lord of the Skies)

We've all had them, those monotonous days that just seem to go on without any end in sight. Jane had pointed out that I was, apparently, "addicted to accomplishment." A term that I had mixed feelings about. My first thought was to take it as a compliment, but the more I thought about it, I figured she meant something more along the lines of not knowing how to relax. I could have told her relaxing around Jeffrey might just result in the end of the world, or at least if he supposed to be watching the twins.

To me "addicted to accomplishment" meant being a productive human being. I couldn't help but wonder what would have ever been discovered if the scientific greats of the last two centuries had given in to off days? I sighed. But off or not, I couldn't seem to pull my hazy mind into any kind of focus. Astra had woken me up with a nightmare, and then I'd spent the next few hours listening to Jeffrey alternate between snoring and mumbling in his sleep. It sounded something like the bad dubbing on a foreign B grade sci-fi flick.

So needless to say, my Saturday wasn't looking like it was going to be a date to remember in the annals of history. If anything, the stack of papers to be graded on my desk seemed to be mocking me for being such an out of character procrastinator. So to get it out of my eyeline I'd retreated to the living where I was aimlessly watching Astra and Tim assemble a block tower. I called myself _watching_ them, but it felt less like parental supervision, and more like desperate entertainment.

But one of the _many_ wonders of Jeffrey was that he never needed much to keep him completely engaged.

" _Pew! Pew pew!"_

The first time I'd heard him making his own sound effects when he played video games I was both alarmed and not at all surprised. And even though this was hardly the first time, my sleep-deprived brain felt far less Jeffrey-tolerant than usual.

He leaned back deeper into the sofa as he propped his feet on the coffee table (in itself a defiant move…) as his fingertips pounded on the screen of his smartphone. Past his own sound effects I could hear the game music droning on in high pitched MIDI tones, all while the constant sound of "laser fire" and explosions completed the scene.

I sighed to myself again as I tried to focus on the block tower in front of me, which at this point seemed the more mature of the options. I wasn't sure if I was going slowly crazy, or if Astra seemed to follow some sort of hot to cold color palette of blocks. Believe it or not, I was about to ask her, when suddenly Jeffrey sprung forward, knees balanced on the coffee table and elbows sticking out wildly.

"Elf Wings ship upgrade!" He shouted before focusing in even harder; his tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth like Hound on a road trip. Astra and I look up and over at him at the exact same moment, both our faces looking like a mixture of bewildered and slightly annoyed. But as expected, Tim's big green eyes were gleaming with curiosity. Abandoning his part of the tower he crept over, and climbed onto the sofa until he could lurk over Jeffrey's shoulder.

"Two points away from high score...can we do it Tims…?" Jeffrey was mumbling while the excited grin on Tim's face just got that much wider. To him Jeffrey was a superhero of the most epic proportions.

"Yeah, we can do it, Daddy!" Tim shouted back as he leaned into Jeffrey's shoulder, getting closer and closer to the screen.

Even as annoying as the tendencies could be, I had to smile at how much alike they were. Astra, on the other hand, had gone back to her tower, and now I knew she must have had some kind of color scheme in mind, it was almost a perfect gradient of warm to cool colored blocks. So leaving the "space rangers" to whatever they did with Elf Wings, I slid off the sofa and carefully knelt down next to Astra. Ruffling her hair a little I smiled down at her.

"You finished?"

She narrowed her eyes and seemed to be thinking for a second before nodding. "Yes…" Then she snapped her head around to look up at me. "Is it pretty…?"

I nodded with a smile as I noticed how she'd went from red to blue with all the shades in between. "Yep, sure is. It shows how smart you are too. See," I said pointing to the transitioning colors. "How'd you know where to put each color?"

She thought for a second before looking up at me, almost seeming a little uncertain. "Rainbows look like this…"

My eyes widened a little bit before I smiled, not able to hold back any of my parental doting pride.

"That's right, Astra, they do. And-" I said preparing to go into a, probably too elaborate for a three-year-old, explanation of why. But it didn't matter since I was cut off by a sudden Jeffrey jumping up and nearly breaking (again) the coffee table.

"Lord of the skies! Perfect score!" Flinging his phone into the sofa he picked up Timothy and started dancing around the living room in celebration.

"Lord of the what?" I asked not liking the sound of it.

He smirked at me. "The _skies_ , my dear, well Skye."

"What'd you do to earn a title like that?" I asked in passing as I kept examining Astra's tower.

I heard him laugh. "Well, first off I had to make a certain beautiful blonde fall in love with me. Then," he winked at Timothy. "Listen, because this part is important. Then it was just a matter of showering her in the sight of my dashing smile." He playfully reached to pinch Tim's cheek. "The very same smile you've inherited Little Maestro! So have no fear, you will be admired by all the pretty girls someday."

I wanted to point out that he didn't have to rush things when it came to Tim's love life, but mostly I wanted to protest the entire statement. Tim just laughed though, loving all the attention. Sticking his arms out wide like a plane he started to mimic Jeffrey's highly sophisticated custom sound effects.

"Pew pew pew! I'm the lord of Mommy too!"

I sighed. "Not the right sky…"

"But," Jeffrey said suddenly getting a dramatic air to his voice. "It wasn't an easy battle Tims!"

Timothy's eyes got even bigger before he gasped. "Really?!"

Jeffrey just nodded, smug. "No, it was not. First I had to defeat the sky fortress! A massive airship lead by Madame Penderwick herself!"

I raised an eyebrow as I got the feeling this story had just a taken a turn toward improvisation.

He darted behind me and reached around my head to cover one of my eyes. "She wore an eyepatch and had an entire fleet at her command. Tough as nails. But she was no match for Captain Jeffrey!"

"Right," I added, deadpan. "You or your elf wings apparently."

"Exactly right, m'lady!" He put Tim back on the ground before he reached to grab the cushions off the sofa. Stacking them around me, he kept embellishing the scene in a way that would have made Jane proud. I, reluctantly, played along, which just meant sitting in the middle of a bunch of pillows.

Now even Astra seemed interested in the tale and started to "imprison" me behind several new stacks of blocks. "Like this, daddy?" She asked turning back to Jeffrey.

He grinned as wide as could be before he reached to playfully poke Astra's nose. "You bet, Buttons, that's the mighty Skye Fortress!"

I sighed, before grinning a little. "Okay, fine, but where are my minion hordes or whatever?"

"I know!" Tim shouted excitedly as he raced from the room and came back with an arm full of plushies of all shapes and sizes. Which meant my forces included (to name a few) a t-rex, bunny, frog, monkey, and that weird pikachu thing from comic-con. It was certainly a motley crew if I'd ever seen one, but apparently, you couldn't find good help these days.

"Just look at all those evil forces!" Jeffrey said as he balled his fist.

"What'd we do, daddy?" Tim asked in suspense.

"Well, first…" he said with a gleam in his eye before he bolted for the kitchen, and then after a minute or two of rattling, he came back with three pots, one big and two smaller one. "We need our trusty helmets first, then we just take off and fly into battle!"

So there we, all three of them lined up with pots on their heads, making _pew_ sounds in triplicate. And somehow I wondered how he'd even gotten Astra involved in all this. But I wasn't a stick in the mud, no, in fact, I figured I'd take advantage of the situation. So grabbing the frog first, and started chucking the plushes at Jeffrey. Most bounced off, but the pika-thing finally made direct contact with his face, and I thought I'd just taken out his perfect score.

"We've been hit!" Tim shouted in full dramatic Jane form. Shaking off the yellow rat wannabe, Jeffrey smirked. "Nope, didn't count, because we had _invincible rainbow shields_ activated the whole time!"

"What?!" I said with a frown. "More like you're just a sore loser…" I mumbled out.

He pulled his helmet down a little lower as if to say he was about to get serious. "This is it, final run! It's now or never! To destiny!"

The next thing I knew I was on my back staring up at the living room fan idly spinning; my deranged family sprawled out around me in between all the pillows and plushies. It was silent for all of two seconds before, I heard Jeffrey spring up.

"We win! Lord of the Skye!"

I hesitantly sat up as I heard Astra and Tim break out laughing.

Playfully frowning over at Jeffrey I reached to punch his shoulder. "Yeah, you wish…"

He smiled, smug at first, and then just happy, like the little kid he must have been. "Wishing has nothing to do with it, my queen, it's just a fact. I'm simply too amazing to resist." I would have punched him again for that do question, but he had reached to hug me before I even could. So when I felt the two other little sets of arms latch on to us and join the hug, well…

Well, I decided I'd let it go for now.

But just this once.

"Jeffrey," I said as soon as the moment broke.

"Yes, m'lady?"

"You still have a pot on your head."

"…Indeed I do..."

Yep, it was just a boring Saturday like a thousand others…

 **Ha, I will have you know the rumors about my death were greatly exaggerated! Okay, but no really, so sorry for the VERY late update, between working hard on other major projects (which I just finished!) and the ups and downs of life, things got a little crazy. But take heart, the lateness of this update shouldn't ever happen again. No promises on exactly how often, but I have every intention of keeping this little series going with new snapshots into the wonderful world of these crazy people we all love. So thank you all for still reading even after all this time!**


	8. Soccer Mom

(Soccer Mom)

I remember high school. Doing math in my head under the bleachers and ducking into the shadows whenever my newest stalker came around looking for the date he'd never get. All in all it was okay I guess. It wasn't really that different from middle school or even elementary. It was basically pretty clear that I was one of the only people there to actually learn something. Being captain of the soccer team meant I at least lost a few of the guys that loved the dainty helpless types, but mostly that only cut out 30 percent of the problem at best. The other 70 percent was persistent enough to make up the difference.

And then there was Jeffrey, for a total of 210 percent problematic guys. Mathematically it didn't make sense, but what did when love was involved? Not that love was involved with any of the rest. All I could do was sorta sigh when I thought about it now. He didn't tell me that he'd been visiting from Boston that one day, nope, he just showed up totally unannounced. I stepped out from the bleachers almost on impulse, like it was okay for him to see me. Okay, for him to try his corny lines and basically flirt just as much. Only it _was_ okay because he was a...dork, goofball, head case, best friend, the guy I was subconsciously in love with?

Jeffrey.

Yeah pretty much.

I sighed again, as I rolled the soccer ball between my feet. "Are you ready or should I give you more time to finish doing your nails?" I asked without even smirking.

Jeffrey grinned playfully before he wiggled his fingers at me. "They do look good, don't they?"

I rolled my eyes and slammed my foot into the soccer ball; launching it at him whether he was ready or not. But he wasn't taken off guard, nope he never was, he was actually pretty good at this. He met the ball and sent it back at me without even hesitating. I caught it with my feet and bounced it on my knee while I looked over at him. He was grinning like he'd just landed the winning shot, but I thought in his mind he really had.

Then he turned and looked at Tim and Astra who were watching wide-eyed. "And that is what we in the soccer world call and a 'cosmic pass deflection!' Pay attention kiddos!"

I smirked as I looked back over at him. "Cosmic what?" I asked trying not to laugh outright.

"Pass deflection." He clarified before he jogged over and took the ball from me and tried to spin it on his finger like he was a basketball star. "Aren't you impressed, M'lady?" He asked as he batted his eyes at me. A truly scary sight…

I glanced askance at the kids and decided to go easy on Jeffrey, just for their sake. "Sure," I said with a grin as I grabbed the soccer ball back and juggled it back and forth between my knees.

Jeffrey's eyes lit up and it was almost like his already unruly hair curled a little more. He was probably shocked, but he sure wasn't going to show it. So as "smooth" as ever he grinned at me like he was some sort of teenage dream out of one of Jane's old cheesy pop magazines.

"And I call this the cosmic..." he started to say as he got closer; moving in to kiss me. But he'd really walked into this one. So I dodged right like we were still playing soccer and left him puckering up to the empty space where I'd been.

"Pass deflection?" I added with a satisfied smirk I couldn't hold back.

He deflated and his hair sagged back down before he trailed away over to Tim and Astra; collapsing into a pouting heap on the ground next to them. "Your mother is being difficult..." He moaned as Astra looked on curiously.

"You're just being silly, daddy." She said matter of fact, and it made me snicker even as Jeffrey winced and dramatically fell backward onto the grass.

"They're all against me…" He mumbled in defeat. Tim just crawled on top of him though; no mercy or recollection that his dad's pride was apparently mortally wounded.

"Daddy, teach me to play too!" He shouted excitedly at Jeffrey; tugging on his shirt. Tim's hair was as blonde as mine, but he'd apparently inherited that messy gene Jeffrey had been arguing existed for years because it was almost as curly as his dad's now. So sure, I could have waxed a little sentimental because honestly just looking at them could make me do that. But...

Jeffrey reached up and wrapped his arms around Timothy; pulling him into a big hug before sitting up again. "Well you've come to the right teacher, little Maestro, I happen to have taught your mother everything she knows!"

I scoffed at that rolling my eyes, but now Tim and Astra both seemed thoroughly impressed. "Even how to read?" Astra asked, her green eyes going wide. They were only four, but she was already as smart as any little kid could be. She was starting to pick up on a few words already, so I was guessing she would have wanted to take advantage of Jeffrey if he really was some secret fountain of knowledge.

I just gave Jeffrey a look that pretty much said he was getting in deeper and deeper the more he opened his mouth. "Well…" He started to say. "Not exactly _everything_ , but I do know plenty about soccer. Shall I enlighten you both, my dearest progeny?" He asked teasingly as he looked at the twins.

"Yeah, they _really_ got that, Jeffrey." I said.

He cleared his throat as he reached to pull Astra into his arms too. "The first thing to know about soccer is: Know thy enemy."

"Emmeny?" Tim questioned seeming even more confused.

Jeffrey narrowed his eyes. "That's right Tims, and in this case it's…" he looked over at me with a smug look.

I sighed as I kicked the ball softly toward them. "Here Tim, practice kicking this, and see how far you can get it to go." That he could understand, so he hopped off of Jeffrey and started to have at the ball like the little maniac he was. (Jeffrey's side of the genes.) Astra was naturally a bit more cautious and decided to watch her brother from a safe distance at first. So that just left Jeffrey sitting by himself on the grass. I guess I felt a little bad for him all by himself, and since I'd lost use of my ball now anyway, I decided to sit down next to him.

I wiped the back of my hand against my forehead; it really was summer now. It was hot and I could smell the grass, figuring it had been freshly cut sometime lately.

"I'm offended." Jeffrey said matter of factly as if it was a sort of odd declaration.

"What?" I asked as I turned to look at him.

He crossed his arms into a pout that looked like a giant Tim when he didn't get to eat his dessert first.

"I'm deeply offended." He said again, now adding a flair of the dramatic.

I sighed, before shrugging with little grin. "Hey like you said, _you_ taught me the cosmic passing whatever, I just put it to good use."

He raised a stubborn eyebrow. "You know you're crazy over me, Skye, so why must you resist my charm?" He asked before he got an evil smirk and tried to tickle my side.

I bit my lip, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of hearing me laugh, so I playfully slapped his hands away. "What charm?" I asked before I pulled on the side of his cheek. "You mean all this goofiness?"

Now it was his turn to playfully slap me away before he got a little more serious look on his face. He sighed as he rested his chin on his knees. "They're getting big, aren't they, M'lady?"

I looked over at him for a second, noticing his tone wasn't being playful for once. So I pulled my legs up to my chest and just stared out at them. Finally, I nodded to myself. "Yeah, King Arthur, they are."

Then I felt his shoulder lean into mine and glancing over I saw him with that typical sappy grin on his face. "Aren't you so glad you married me, Skye?" He almost looked like a cat begging for a dish of milk and a pat on the head. So I caved, if just for his sake.

"Yeah." I mumbled before I looked over at him with another smirk. "Your mom has a ton of money, so it was the smartest thing to do from a mathematical standpoint."

I heard him scoff in shock before he fell backward again. "Still deeply offended…" He moaned.

I laughed this time before I reached down to hit his shoulder. "I'm kidding, okay?"

He sat up again slowly. "Sticks and stones, but _your_ cruel words will never hurt me." He said with a playful pout. But like he always can, he made me feel at least a little sorry for him, so giving into a sigh I leaned over and kissed his forehead just for a second. Afterward he sat as tall and proud as if he'd just won the "Jeffrey of the Year" competition. (Out of just how many Jeffreys I couldn't say…)

Astra and Tim were still kicking the ball around, the sun was bright and hot, and the clouds were drifting by in slow patches. All in all it was a perfectly normal summer day. So perfect that I was almost expecting something to go wrong. That something wrong I figured was on it's way when I saw the familiar car pull into the lot next to the park. I stared over until I saw Jane step out, and then from the look on her face I had to wonder what was up? Though at the same time I knew normal was _very_ relative when it came to Jane anyway.

"Oh it's Jane." Jeffrey said a little surprised as he looked over at her walking toward us.

"Yep…" I mumbled with some suspicion.

As always she seemed as if she was entering stage right. In fact her whole manner had this, uh theatrical aura, and I meant that as in more than usual. She didn't even acknowledge me or Jeffrey though, no she just walked over toward the twins.

"Aunty Jane!" Tim was the first to shout as he abandoned the soccer ball and ran to wrap his arms around Jane's leg.

She knelt down and smiled at him, yeah that smile that seemed like something I'd seen on one of those painful movies she'd made me sit through as a kid. It was a look like when you've received the death sentence and were giving your last address. "Oh Timothy, aren't you the very embodiment of an ideal…?" She reached out to caress the side of his face as he looked on in confusion.

"Why I remember when your mommy and daddy first met, that first moment when the seeds of love were planted in the soil of life and yet-"

"Jane?" I said cutting her off before she traumatized either Tim or me. "Jane what's um...going on?" I asked as she stood and finally turned to face me. But something caught in my chest when she did, because now her face looked like something more than just her typical drama queen self.

She bit her lip and reached to wipe her eyes on the back of her hand, but doing that just seemed to get her going all the more. "Skye…" She mumbled as I took a cautious step closer to her.

"What's up? Are...you-"

"I'm fine, Skye." She said trying to seem brave, but with the water streaming down her face it was kind of a tough sale. She balled her fists at her sides and took a deep breath. By now Jeffrey had followed me over and he was looking with as much concern as I was. Well, I was mostly afraid to ask too.

She looked at the two of us, almost like we were the parents calling her out for something. But I thought behind her eyes was a...uh I guess she looked sorta vulnerable. I mean like really, not like it was just an over the top act like usual.

So I stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder; looking her straight in the eyes. I was about to ask again what was wrong, yeah what was happening to mess up the perfect summer day just like I worried. And I admit my brain was racing to a lot of stuff. Dad, Iantha, Rosalind, Ben, Batty. Was somebody sick, did somebody get hurt, had David finally realized Jane wasn't like other people and up and left? It was a million thoughts with a million more feelings attached to them. I was thinking how I'd definitely have something to say to David about that last one, when she opened her mouth and blurted out the truth in all one breath.

"I'm having a baby!" Then she slapped a hand over her mouth as if she'd just given out a secret she regretted. But she couldn't stay quiet for long. "Oh Skye!" She hummed before lunging forward and wrapping her arms so tight around my neck I thought I might not ever be able to breathe again. But really it was hard to think at all. For a lot of reasons really. Like how it wasn't really that big of a deal, like it wasn't so hard to believe. Rosalind and Tommy had a son, and heck even _I_ had kids, so what was so strange about Jane? She'd been married for a few years already so…

"It's really happening, I'm really going to be a mom…" She whispered into my ear. And now it seemed weird that she was talking non-stop and I hadn't even said a word. But leave it to Jeffrey to make a weird moment all the better.

"I'm an uncle!" He shouted as if it was a new revelation.

I looked over at him. "You're already an uncle because of Rosy."

He thought for a second before revising his statement. "I'm a _second_ uncle!"

Then Jane let go of me and went to sob into Jeffrey's shoulder too. I just watched her gushing all over the place before I sighed. Goodbye perfect day…

She probably cried like that for a while. Then she'd just state it again like she was just realizing it for the first time. I'd try to ask practical questions like what the doctor had said, and how far along she was, and she'd mostly ignore me altogether. But it was weird in that typical Jane way, because the crying gave way to her smiling, smiling and saying it all over again. I'd nod and tell her that yeah, we got the picture by now. Tim and Astra weren't even worried, probably because they'd seen Jane cry lots of times before. But just in case she was traumatizing their young minds I sent Jeffrey away to keep them distracted with more soccer.

So that just left me and Jane. It reminded me of that time when Jeffrey had first confessed to me and I'd left him standing in the living room without saying anything. Jane had been the one to find me on the roof and play wise sage. If she was expecting me to do the same for her now, well I wasn't gonna be able to manage it half as well.

"Have you told him?" I asked, though I thought it was a pretty dumb question.

She sighed. "I wasn't sure how to word it…"

I couldn't hold myself back from laughing. " _You,_ don't have the _words_? Really, Jane?"

She frowned at me. "Even great writers have a block sometimes, you know Skye."

I smiled a little. "Or it could just be you never could write your own story half as well as nosing into somebody else's. You were better at figuring out me and Jeffrey even."

She leaned back on her hands where we were both sitting in the grass. "That's just because as an artist it's easier for me to understand things from a different vantage point."

I twisted a few blades of grass in between my fingers. "You are happy about it, right? I mean, did you and David want kids?" I asked, finding it a lot easier to stick to the practical side of things.

She was quietly thoughtful for a few moments. "We never talked about it much really… I was always so busy writing, meeting agents, dealing with book signings. And he was always so supportive, right there next to me in it all… But I…" She shrugged. "Maybe it's silly, but I always thought I'd just be a career woman… Like I was supposed to be."

She poked her index fingers together before she looked up at me, and in that second I remembered she really was my little sister. And for just a second I forgot about all the years in between.

"Remember that time you fell in love with that painter guy in junior high?"

"Tony?" She asked as the memory seemed to come back to her.

"Yeah, whatever, my point is you said you were probably 'destined' to um," I hesitated. "How did you put it…?"

"Teach others how to love through my words, but never experience the glory of it myself?"

I narrowed my eyes as I felt a throb run through my head. "Uh, yeah, I guess that's what you said... So the point is, you've always sorta liked having this martyr thing going. But um writers can have families too so…" I knew this pep talk was not turning out how I wanted it so I trailed off. But thankfully she seemed to get the point anyway.

"Tony…" she mumbled in thought. "I really thought he was the one, you know..."

"He was a nut, Jane." I said matter of factly, as memories of that escapade painfully came back to my mind.

"Well," she shrugged. "He had _some_ sort of deep-seated issue I'd say. But anyway, I get what you mean."

"You do?" I said sorta surprised myself.

She nodded with a smile, finally seeming to have calmed down from the hysterics. "So I really can have both…"

I smiled a little as I reached to poke her stomach playfully. "You already do, and you can't back out now."

She blinked at me as if she was trying to come to some final realization. Then she sighed and I saw her shoulders sag in relief. "Thanks, Skye, you always know just what to say to make me feel better…"

I knew that was a lie, but who was I to ruin this hallmark moment?

"Um, you're welcome…?"

She smiled over at me wider before she reached to give me a big hug. "I know I can get through this, because I have a sister as great as you." She pulled back just enough to look at me, her brown eyes against my blue ones. "But you're gonna have to tell me everything you know about being a mom, okay?"

Her tone was a little desperate, and I guessed that Jane really was different from Rosy. Because she had seemed to take to being a mom as easy as anybody could, or maybe it was just because she always felt like she had to set the example for the rest for us? I guessed that was just a part of being the oldest sister. I looked over at where Jeffrey and the twins were goofing around and thought about why we'd worked at all. It wasn't like I knew the secret formula. It wasn't like math where you could trace back exactly how you'd reached a certain conclusion.

Nope, it wasn't that simple. But…

I looked back at Jane, Jane who seemed ready to drink in anything "wise" I could share. But I didn't know what to say just…

"Expect the unexpected," I said as I thought about the time Tim had covered Jeffrey's baby grand in jelly. "Count to ten when you feel like you're about to lose it." Jeffrey had come home with a motorcycle once, and then he'd tried to reason it away as a _quarter_ life crisis. "Force your true feelings out even if it's like going against gravity." Astra had asked if I loved her once when she was only two years old. I wanted to feel like a failure right then, but instead, I just promised myself she'd never need to ask it ever again.

"And finally…" I looked at Jane, a serious look on my face. A look that seemed to worry her, almost like this was going to be the hardest part. I remembered it from when I was pushing her the first day she tried to ride her bike without training wheels. I'd told her I was going to let go and just like that, I did.

"Have fun." I said lastly as a little grin came to my face.

She stared at me, almost confused at first. But then we both seemed to stop to listen to the sound of Tim and Astra laughing along with Jeffrey as they wrestled around in the grass.

"Because," I said, and I meant it 210 percent. "You don't ever really grow up, Jane, you just…" I shook my head as I thought about Jeffrey.

"Get a lot taller."


End file.
